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LIFE OF WASHINGTON: 



BY 



LEONAED HENLEY. 



NEW YORK : 
JOHN W. LOVELL COMPANY, 

14 & IG YESEY STREET, 



^ASHINeTONWM 



COPYRIGHT, 1882, 

BY 

JOHN W. LOVELL CO. 



1^^^ 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



PREFACE. 



The writer of this little book makes no claim to 
originality of research. He has found most of his 
material in the stately volumes of Marshall, in the 
pictured pages of Bancroft, and in Irving' s charming 
book, which will ever remain the standard Zife of 
Washi7igto7i. 

To these great writers, and to Lecky, Green, 
Sparks, and a dozen other historians, whose works are 
within easy reach, he owes every fact, whicli he lias 
narrated, and nearly every thought which he has 
expressed. 

His only aim has been to write a truthful, intelli- 
gible and readable book, for those who want a short 
biography of the most exalted character in Modern 

8 



CHAPTEK I. 

THE ANCESTRY OF WASHINGTON. 

In 1657, two brothers, John and Andrew Washing*- 
ton, left their English homes, and came to Virginia to 
live. 

The family, which had for centuries held an honor- 
able position in the motlier country, adhered loyally 
to Charles the First in the great Rebellion. One of 
them. Lieutenant Colonel James Wasliington, lost his 
life for that sovereign at the siege of Pontefract Cas- 
tle: and another. Col. Sir Henry AYashington, a 
nephew of George Yilliers, Duke of Buckingham, 
was one of Prince Kupert's best and bravest officers. 
He distinguished himself at the siege of Bristol l)y 
his gallant bearing and impetuous courage, and still 
more at Worcester, which important city he held for 
nearly three months against a largely superior force, 
and continued to hold it, after his ammunition had been 
almost completely exhausted, until the King himself 
issued an order for tlie surrender of all towns. Castles 
and Ports. 

His reply to Fairfax, when that Parliamentary 
General demanded the surrender of the place, disf>lays 
the character of this true gentleman and soldier : 

Sir — It is acknowledf>;ed in }'onr books, and by 
4 



GEORaE WASHINGTON. 5 

report of your own quarter, that the King is in some 
of your armies. That granted, it may be easy for 
you to procure his Majesty's commands for the dis- 
posal of this garrison, fill then I shall make good 
the trust reposed in me. As for conditions, if I shall 
be necessitated, I will make the best that I can. The 
loorst I know and fear not ; otherwise the profession 
of a soldier had not been begun, or so long continued, 
by your Excellency's hum])le Servant, 

Henry Washington. 

It is noteworthy here, that a century later, another 
Washington, and another Fairfax, kinsmen of the Par- 
liamentary General and of the Koyalist Soldier, were 
neighbors and friends in the New World, on the 
banks of the Potomac in Yirginia ; that this Wash- 
ington married his neighbor's daughter; and that 
Thomas, Lord Fairfax, was the early and constant 
friend of another Washington, the greatest of his race. 

When, at last, the honor and the valor of the Cava- 
lier could no longer withstand the stern devotion and 
religious enthusiasm of the Puritan ; when the gallan- 
try and dashing courage of Prince Pupert was no 
longer a match for the discipline and genius of Crom- 
well ; and when, on Marston Moor and Naseby's fatal 
field, the royal armies had been dispersed, and the 
royal cause utterly overtln-own ; and Charles, unwisely 
trusting his person to his own Scottish people, had 
been by them basely betrayed to the English ; and by 
these beheaded in front of his own Palace of White- 
hall; when all this had happened, and Cromwell and 
the Puritans had possessed themselves of England, 



6 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



many of the Cavaliers, who had followed their Sover- 
eign's fortunes to the last, and battled for him to his 
death, resolved to seek a refuge, and to found new 
homes, and re-establish their wasted fortunes in the 
distant colony of Yirginia, which, during all the long 
struggle betweeji the King and his Parliament, had 
remained stedfast in her allegiance to Church and 
State. 

After Charles had been put to death, Yirginia 
still refused to acknowledge the Commonwealth, until 
Cromwell sent over a powerful fleet to reduce her 
to obedience ; and when this fleet anchored off James- 
town, in 1651, the Colonists, headed by their Gov- 
ernor, Sir William Berkely, still held out until, after 
some negotiation, a liberal and amicable compromise 
was made, whereby they made their submission to the 
Commonwealth as "a voluntary act, not forced or 
constrained upon the Country, by a Conquest." It 
was also agreed that, " the people of Yirginia " 
should have all the liberties of free-born Englishmen ; 
should entrust their business, as formerly, to their own 
Grand Assembly ; should remain unquestioned for 
their past loyalty ; and should have " as free trade as 
the people of England." 

During the Commonwealth, the Colony took advan- 
tage of the times to establish free institutions in her 
midst. She claimed, and used, the right to choose, 
and to remove, her Governors ; concentrated political 
power in her House of Burgesses ; was the first State 
in the world, of anv extent, to establish universal suf- 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 7 

frage, a privilege which she conferred even on her 
freed servants ; inaugurated Free Trade ; and made a 
great advance towards fleligious Freedom. 

But all this time, the Virginian cavaliers never wa- 
vered in their attachment to the Stuarts. Whilst Crom- 
well was still the undisputed Master of England, they 
sent Commissioners to Charles to invite him to come and 
rule over his Colony, pledging themselves to support 
his rights with men and arms. Their constant loyalty 
so touched the heart of even this frivolous prince, that 
as a mark of his kingly favor and a token of her 
equality in the Realm, he quartered the arms of Vir- 
ginia, by Royal Patent, on the Imperial Escutcheon, 
and seriously contemplated going to his Ancient 
Dominion^ as he graciously styled her, there to be 
crowned King of England, Scotland, Ireland and Vir- 
ginia. Tills plan was frustrated by the death of the 
Protector, and the resignation of his son, Richard, 
and the return of Charles to London, where he was 
crowned on the 31st of May, 1660, amidst the accla- 
mations of the people. 

Meanwhile, during the Civil Wars, and the Com- 
monwealth, many a Cavalier and Royalist gentleman 
had, as already narrated, been attracted to Virginia by 
her devotion to the cause of their Sovereign, and lier 
antipattiy to the Puritans. Among them were the 
two l^rothers, John and Andrew Washington, who 
came to the Cjlony in 1657, and purchased lands 
in Westmoreland County, and established their homes 
on the wooded shores of the stately Potomac, 



8 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

The population of Virginia at this time " may have 
been thirty thousand," says Bancroft. ^' Many of the 
recent comers had been Royalists, good officers in the 
war, men of education, of property, and of condition. 
* * * The genial climate and transparent atmo- 
sphere delighted those who had come from the dense 
au' of England. Every object in nature was new and 
wonderful. * * * The forests, majestic in their 
growth, and free from underwood, deserved admira- 
tion for their unrivalled magnificence; purling streams 
and frequent rivers, flowing between alluvial banks, 
quickened the soil into unwearied fertility ; strange 
and delicate flowers grew familiarly in the fields ; the 
woods were replenished with sweet barks and odors ; 
the gardens matured the fruits of Europe, of which 
the growth was invigorated and the flavor improT^ed 
by the virgin mould. Especially the birds, with their 
gay plumage and varied melodies, inspired delight; 
every traveller expressed his pleasure in listening to 
the mocking bird * * imitating and excelling the 
notes of all its rivals. The humming-bird, so brilliant 
in plumage, so delicate in form, and so quick in mo- 
tion * "" was ever admired as the smallest and the 
most beautiful of the feathered race. The rattlesnake, 
'" * * the opossum, * * * the noisy frog, * * the 
flying squirrel, * * tlie myriads of pigeons * * were 
the subjects of the strangest tales. To the men of 
leisure the chase furnished a perpetual resource ; * * 
the horse was nmltiplied, * * * and to improve tliat 
n.;hle animal was early an object of pride, soon to be 



GEOKaE WASHINGTON. 9 

favored bj legislation. * * ^^ Proverbial was the 
hospitality of the Yirginians. * * The morasses 
were alive with waterfowl ; the creeks abounded with 
oysters; * * the rivers were crowded with lish; the 
forests were nimble with game; the woods rustled 
with coveys of quails, and wild turkeys, and rang with 
the merry notes of singing birds ; and hogs * * ran at 
large in troops. It was the best poor man's country 
in the world. Immigrants never again desired to live 
in England." 

Of all this fair and plentiful region, none was fairer 
or more plentiful than the shores of the Potomac, and 
there John Washington lived and flourished. He was 
a successful planter, and quickly became a man of 
consideration in the Colony ; a magistrate, a member 
of the House of Burgesses, and a Colonel of Militia, 
in which capacity he commanded the Virginia forces 
in an expedition against the Seneca Indians, who were 
lavaging both sides of the Potomac, and approved 
iiimself therein a good soldier and an able officer. 

His estates descended, m due course of time, to his 
grandson, Augustine Washington, who was born upon 
them in 1694. This grandson was twice married; his 
second wife being then known as the Belle of the 
ISTorthern -N"eck (as is called that part of Virginia 
which lies between the Potomac and the Kappahan- 
nock), but now, and for all time, known as Mai'y the 
Mother of Washingto7i. 



CHAPTEE II. 

HIS CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 

Geokge Washington was born at the old home- 
stead on the Potomac, on the 22d of Februaiy, 1732, 
just one hundred and fifty years ago. Not long after- 
wards the family moved to a farm in Stafford County, 
near to the town of Fredericksburg, and there it con- 
tinued to reside till Augustine Washington died. This 
happened in 1743, when George was barely eleven 
years old. Augustine Washington's estates were then 
divided among his seven children, the lands on the 
Potomac being given to Lawrence and Augustine, 
sons of his first wife; and his other estates being- 
divided among the children of the second wife, who w^as 
made guardian of them till they should become of age. 

Lawrence Washington, the eldest son, who was 
fourteen years older than George, had, as was usual 
among the wealthier Virginia families, been educated 
in England ; but the death of their father denied this 
privilege to George and his other brothers. Indeed, 
he received no instruction at all outside of his home, 
except that which he acquired at a country school 
taught by one of his father's tenants, the parish sex- 
ton. There he learned the rudiments of reading, 

WTiting and arithmetic, and nothhig else. 
10 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 11 

Fortunately for liim, however, liis brother Law- 
rence had, shice his father's death, become a soldier, 
and distinguished himself as captain of a Yirginia 
regiment, which fought in tlie West Indies, under 
Admiral Yernon and General Wentworth ; and had 
won the confidence and friendship of those fine offi- 
cers, and becoming a great personage in the colony, 
liad married Anne Fairfax, daughter of William 
Fairfax, an English gentleman of birth and distinc- 
tion, living in Westmoreland, on the Potomac, 
at his splendid seat, Belvoir, which was famed far 
and wide for its elegant and lavish hospitality ; and 
had built on his ancestral estates, an imposing mansion, 
which, in honor of liisold commander, lie named Mount 
Yernon. Thither George was sent, that he might at- 
tend a neighboring school — Williams' — which was 
somewhat better than that of the old sexton. Hobby, 
but where nothing but-the commonest English studies 
were taught. 

But George studied diligently, and learned all that 
he could, and learned it thoroughly. He acquired 
much skill in drafting papers of all kinds, and in 
keeping accounts, and learned the science and art of 
surveying, which was to l)e his business ; and in tlie 
practice of which he acquired that knowledge of pub- 
lic lands, and their value, which afterwards contribu- 
ted greatly to the increase of his private fortune. 

He took great interest, too, and excelled, in all 
athletic exercises and feats of strength, and in all manly 
sports, and was a consummate horseman. While still 



12 GEORGE AVASHINGTON. 

a child his imagination had been lired by his brother's 
exploits, and his martial tastes developed ; and at Hob- 
by's school he organized his schoolmates into military 
companies, and paraded, and reviewed, and fought 
them, and was their acknowledged commander. This 
right to lead and to govern was recognized as well at 
Williams' school, where he also became umpire and 
lawgiver, thus displaying in boyhood the qualities which 
distinguished him in manhood. 

At Mount Yernon George was the constant com- 
panion of men and women of breeding and accom- 
plishments, and of exalted virtue. His brother Law^- 
rence was not only a thoroughly educated man, but 
had brought back with him from England all the 
refinements and culture of an English gentleman. 
His service in the war had won him the respect and 
friendship, not only of Yernon and of Wentworth, 
but of all his brother officers. He had become a lead- 
ing personage in the colony — a member of the House 
of Burgesses, and adjutant-general of his district. 
His wife was a woman of the highest type of well" 
born Englishwomen. 

Her fatlier, William Fairfax, himself of noble 
birth, was a man of liberal education, accomplished 
maimers, and adventurous spirit. Havmg entered the 
British army at twenty one, and having won reputa- 
tion in every quarter of the globe, he liad come to 
Yirginia, to manage the princely estates of his cousin, 
Thomas, Lord Fairfax, and was Lawrence Washing- 
ton's nearest neighbor. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 13 

Among these gentle-folk, and the other wealthy 
families whose mansions overlooked the lordly Poto- 
mac, and whose hospitality reached to the uttermost 
ends of the Virginia settlements, George acquired that 
stately grace and decorous courtesy of manner, which 
eminently became the dignity, the gravity, and the 
purity of his character, and which distinguished him 
above all the men of Ins time. 

There, too, his military aspirations were fostered 
and strengthened, till at last he sought and obtained a 
commission in the British navy, and was about to 
sail ; when his mother's entreaties l)ocame so urgent, 
that he a])andoned his cherished desire, and returned 
to his school. 

Perhaps the mother's prayers were obeyed the less 
reluctantly, because our hero's lieart had already been 
captured by one of the aristocratic beauties whom he 
had met at Mount Yernon or Belvoir. What her 
name was, and what her station, we know only from 
tradition : for he guarded his secret with the utmost 
care, and it would have died witli him, but for some 
love-sick rhymes, which he trusted to that inseparable 
companion and friend of his youth — his copy-book. 
In these amorous verses he describes her as his " Low- 
land Beauty ;" and the old gossips say that she was a 
Miss Grimes, who married a Mr. Lee, and became the 
mother of that Light Horse Harry Lee, who figured 
conspicuously in the Revolution, and was afterward 
Governor of Virginia, and the author of that pln-ase 
whicii so justly describes Washington as " Fu*st in 



14: GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

War, First in Peace, and First in the hearts of his 
countrymen," and who, more than all, and above all, 
was the father of the great Confederate soldier, Eob- 
ert Edmund Lee. 

About this time, Thomas, Lord Fairfax, came to 
Virginia, to look after his great estates, and was stay- 
ing at Belvoir, with his cousin William, the father of 
Mrs. Lawrence Washington. He was now nearly 
sixty years old, upwards of six feet high, gaunt and 
raw-boned, near-sighted, with light gray eyes, sharp 
features, and an aquiline nose. Ungainly though he 
might be now, he had in his younger days been a 
great gallant in London society. His rank, his great 
wealth, and his high connections, gave him entree into 
the most fashionable circles of England, and he 
added to their prestige by his personal w^orth and 
accomplishments. He had graduated at Oxford, had 
served in the army, and, more than all, had contribu- 
ted one or two papers to Mr. Addison's Spectator, 
w^hich was then in great vogue. He had naturally fallen 
in love with a young lady of beauty and high rank. Slie 
had accepted him ; the wedding-day had been fixed ; the 
wedding-dresses had been made ; everything had been 
provided, even the servants and equipages for the new 
establishment, when suddenly the lady, dazzled by the 
superior brightness of a ducal coronet, broke her en- 
gagement, and overwhelmed her lover with shame and 
despair. He abandoned society altogether, and on the 
instant ; and shortly afterwards sought, in Virginia, 
distraction from his sorrow and his mortification. 



OEORGE WASHINGTOK. 15 

Lord Fairfax's estates, derived by him through his 
mother, a daughter of Lord Culpepper, to whom thev 
had been granted by Charles 11. , embraced all the 
lands lying between the Potomac and the Kappahan- 
nock, and a great part of the valley of the Shenan- 
doah — a right royal domain ! 

Lord Fairfax was a staunch fox-hunter, and kept 
horses and hounds in the true English style, and 
the neighborhood was full of sport. Every Yir- 
ginian in those days was a horseman, and fond of 
tlie field; but the sharp-witted old lord, near-sighted as 
he was, quickly saw that among them all was none so 
bold and skillful a horseman, nor so eager to follow 
the hounds, as young Washington, and straightway 
took him into peculiar favor, and made him his con- 
stant companion. He saw, too, that the youth was a 
man of sense, and honesty, and honor, and one to be 
trusted; and one day he asked him whether he would 
undertake the laborious, and difficult, and dangerous 
task of surveying his lands Ijeyond the mountains, 
and ousting the lawless squatters, who were planting 
themselvci along the fairest streams, and in the loveli- 
est and most fertile valleys, and taking virtual posses- 
sion of the country. 

Washington, wlio was tb.en just beginning his sev- 
enteenth year, eagerly accepted the employment. It 
was just what he wanted, the very business for which 
he liad l)een diligently and carefully preparing liini- 
self; and in a very few days (March, 1748), he was 
on his way to the valley of the Shenandoah. He 



16 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

remained there, in the almost unbroken forest, for 
nearly a year ; when, having completed his surveys, 
he returned home, reaching Mount Yernon in April, 
1Y49. 

Lord Fairfax was so greatly pleased hj the accounts 
which Washington gave him of his Western posses- 
sions, that he moved across the Blue Ridge, and took 
up his residence near the present town of Winches- 
ter. There lie laid out a manor, containing ten thou- 
sand acres of rich lands and noble forests, and pro- 
jected a spacious manor house, to which he gave the 
name of Greenway Court. 

By his influence Washington was made a public 
surveyor, and within the next three years, during 
which he was a frequent guest at Greenway Court, he 
made many surveys which are still of record, and 
which have always been found so correct, that to this 
day they are received with implicit credit. 



CHAPTEK III. 

MAJOR WASHINGTON. THE STRUGGLE FOR THE GREAT 

VALLEY BEGINS. 

While Washington was still surveying tlie then 
fresli-clad valley of the Shenandoah, great schemes in 
which he was destined to act a conspicuous part, 
were being quietly worked out at home and abroad. 

At that time both England and France laid claim 
to the vast region lying ])etween the Alleglianies and 
the Rocky Mountains : England on tlie ground that 
Cabot's discovery of the Atlantic coast, irom Labra- 
dor to Cape Hatteras,^ gave her all tlie country west 
of the coast which he had explored, even to the 
Pacific ; the French, on the much more tenable 
ground, the they were entitled to it l)y reason of the 
discoveries and explorations of Father Marquette, 
Joliet, and La Salle, who had, between 1673 and 
1682, explored the Mississippi from the Falls of St. 
Anthony to the Gulf of Mexico, and taken formal 
possession for France of all the lands drained 'by that 
great river and its tributaries; that is to say, of the en- 
tire valley of the Mississippi, from the summit of the 
Alleghanies to the top of tlie Pocky Mountains. To 
this valley La Salle had, in honor of Louis XIY., 
given tlie name of Louisiana. After several attempts 



18 GEORGE WASHINGTON?. 

to colonize this region, the French finally had estab- 
lished a colony at New Orleans, in 1722; and from 
this point had gradually extended their settlements 
up the Mississippi, and along the Ohio and Wabash, 
towards the great lakes, around which they had 
already planted themselves. They now conceived the 
vast and interesting plan of connecting their settle- 
ments in Louisianna with tliose in Canada, by a 
chain of forts, extending from the vicinity of Niag- 
ara to the headwaters of the Ohio, and thence along 
that river to the Mississippi. To these immense pos- 
sessions, embracing both Canada and Louisiana, they 
gave the name of New France. The population of 
Canada was tlien estimated at 45,000, and that of 
Louisiana at 7,000. 

The English had not yet attempted to make any 
settlement west of the Alleghanies ; but their traders 
(chiefly from Pennsylvania) roamed through the val- 
ley of the Ohio, and were now beginning to come 
into contact with the French traders from Canada. 
The white population of the English colonies, be- 
tween the Alleghanies and the Atlantic, w^as esti- 
mated (1750) at 1,05(),000; and the slaves at 220,000. 

The disparity in mimbers between the French and 
the English did not intimidate the Governor of New 
France from executing the plan to unite the French 
settlements in Canada with those on the Mississippi. 
On the contrary, he was satisfied that the French 
possessed advantages which would counterbalance the 
English superiority in numbers. These advantages 



GEORaE WASHINGTON. 19 

lay in the two circumstances, that the power of 
France in America was all united under one Gov- 
ernor ; and the genius of the people and of the gov- 
ernment being military, that the inhabitants could 
readily be called into the field if their services should 
be required. Great reliance, too, was placed on the 
Indians, who, with the exception of the Six Nations, 
were generally attached to France, and well trained to 
war. To all these advantages was added a perfect 
knowledge of the country which was to be the scene of 
action. Their Governors, too, most of whom had been 
military men, had, for several preceding years, judi- 
ciously selected and fortified such places as would give 
their nation most influence with the Indians, and best 
facilitate their own incursions into the English prov- 
inces. The command of Lake Champlain had, among 
other things, been acquired by erecting a strong fort 
at Crown Point ; and a connected chain of posts was 
maintained from Quebec up the St. Lawrence and 
along the great lakes. 

The British colonies, on the other hand, were divi- 
ded into distinct governments, unaccustomed, except 
those of New England, to act in concert; were jeal- 
ous of the powers of the Crown ; were spread over 
a large extent of country ; and were almost entirely 
unused to arms. 

About the same time that the French determined 
to extend their posts down the Ohio (1749), several 
opulent and influential persons, both in England and 
Virginia (and among the latter, Lawrence Washing- 



20 G-EORGE WASHINaTON. 

ton and his brother Augustine), assocdated themselves 
together under the name of " The Ohio Company," 
and, as such, obtained from the Crown a grant of 
500,000 acres of land, lying west of the Alleghanies, 
and, consequently, within the disputed territory. The 
grant was made on condition that the Company would 
locate 200,000 acres at once, and settle 100 families 
upon their land mthin seven years, and build and gar- 
rison a Fort, at the Company's expense, for the pro- 
tection of the settlers, and of the frontier, against the 
Indians and French. 

The management of the affairs of this Company 
was soon devolved, by the death of the President, upon 
Lawrence Washington, whose liberal spirit and en- 
lightened mind shone out in all its earlier operations. 
Among other things, Christopher Gist — a brave and 
hardy Yirginian, experienced in woodcraft and in the 
ways of the Indians — was sent out with a small party 
to explore the lands upon the Ohio, as far as the 
Falls of that river (where the City of Louisville now 
stands), and to select the Company's lands. He tra- 
versed a great part of the present States of Ohio 
and Kentucky; established friendly relations with 
the Indians, and surveyed with a keen eye the 
undulating and wide-spreading plain, watered with 
streams and rivulets, and clad Avith noble forests of 
hickory, walnut, ash, poplar, sugar-maple and wild 
cherry. There w^ere spacious fields covered with wild 
rye, and natural meadows, waving with blue grass and 
clover ; and grazing upo.n them wej-e herds of bufialo. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 21 

while on woodland and prairie, deer, elk, and wild tur- 
kevs aI)ounded. Nothing was wanting hut the wand 
of civilization to convert this smiling wilderness into 
the abode of millions of men. 

The French had already begun to be alarmed by 
the increasing number of English — mostly Pennsyl- 
vanians- who were wandering through this region to 
trade with the Indians ; and the Governor of Canada 
(within whose jurisdiction Louisiana lay) had, early 
in 1749, sent De Bienville, an intelligent officer, with 
300 men, to conciliate and confirm the friendship of 
the Indians, and to renew the French possession of 
the Yalley of the Ohio. 

De Bienville notified the English traders to leave 
the country, and, through one party of them, wrote to 
the Governor of Pennsylvania, that the French would 
not permit the English to intrude into this region, but 
would deal rigorously with any traders of that na- 
tion who should thereafter dare to enter the Yalley. 
Shortly before Gist's appearance upon the scene, De 
Bienville had, in execution of this threat, captured 
three men and sent them to Canada, 

Gist met, in these wilds, George Croghan, a shrewd, 
sagacious and experienced trader, who thoroughly 
understood the Indian character, and who, on that 
account, had been sent thither by the Governor of 
Pennsylvania to counteract the machinations of De 
Bienville. The two veteran pioneers prosecuted their 
labors together for some tiuie — the one in the interest 
of Pennsylvania, and the other in that of Virginia, 



22 GEOKGE WASHINGTON. 

Gist, having completed liis explorations, returned 
home about the 1st of June, 1750, and reported the 
result of his labors and observations. This report 
accelerated the activity of the Ohio Company, which 
immediately sent him, with a party of surveyors, to 
locate some lands for the Company in the country 
lying between the Kanawdia and the Ohio. It also 
made preparations to erect a Fort on the Ohio, just 
below the present city of Pittsburg, for the protection 
of its employees, and of settlers upon its lands. 

The French lost no time in preparing to resist these 
encroachments, and to take military possession of the 
disputed territory. To effect this, they launched a 
war vessel of unusual size on Lake Ontario ; fortified 
their trading post at Niagara, and extended their lines 
from Presqu 'Isle (Erie), at the eastern extremity of 
Lake Erie, to the Alleghany, and thence down that 
river towards the Ohio. 

The English Colonies now saw that if they were 
not willing to be hemmed in between the Alleghanies 
and the Atlantic, they must prepare for war. Yirginia 
was the first to move. The province was divided into 
Military Districts, for each of which an Adjutant- 
General, with the rank of Major, was appointed, to 
organize, and attend to the equipment of, the Militia. 
At the request of Lawrence Washington, George was 
made Adjutant of his District, though he was then but 
nineteen years of age— no slight proof of the maturity 
of his mind, and of the confidence inspired by his 
judicious conduct and aptness for business. "With his 



(JEOitGE WASHINGTON. 23 

accustomed devotion to duty and conscientious atten- 
tion to details, he at once began to prepare himself 
for his important duties, not only hj studying Military 
Science, but by perfecting himself in the School of 
the Soldier. In these practical details he Avas in- 
structed, not only by his brother Lawrence, but by 
two followers of that soldierly gentleman — a certain 
Adjutant Muse, and one Jacolj Van Braam, a Dutch- 
man l)y birth, a Diigald Dalgelty by nature and edu- 
cation, and now George Washington's Master of Fence. 
His studies were, however, soon interrupted by the 
illness of Lawrence Washington, who, being advised by 
his physician to seek restoration of his health in the 
sonny It^laiid of Barbadoes, went thither (September, 
1751), taking George with him. There Lawrence grew 
better at first, and George had an opportunity to enjoy 
the hospitalities of the planters, and to see the sights 
of that tropical Island. There he went, for the first 
time, to a theatre, and witnessed, with a pleasure 
which he never forgot and which in after life he 
always renewed whenever he could, the acting of a 
play. But he w^as suddenly stopped in this course of 
amusement by a severe attack of small-pox, which left 
upon his features its indellible traces. When suf- 
ficiently recovered, lie returned to Mount Yernon, to 
attend to some Inisiness, while Lawrence went to Ber- 
muda, where his health so rapidly grew w^orse that lie 
was forced to hasten home. He had hardly gotten to 
Mount Yernon when he died (July 26, 1752), in the 
35 th year of his age. 



24 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

Lawrence left a widow^, and an infant daughter, to 
inherit his ample estates — with the provision that, if 
the daughter should die childless, George should, after 
the death of her mother, too, inherit Mount Vernon 
and other lands. He was one of the executors of the 
will ; and, though only twenty years old, such was the 
confidence of his co-executors, that the management 
of the estate was devolved entirely upon him. It is 
needless to say that it was managed with consummate 
ability and scrupulous fidelity. 



CHAPTEK IV. 

THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 

Meanwhile, both the Ohio Company and tlie French 
had l)een strengthening their positions near th.e Ohio? 
by forming alliances with the Indians, and 1)}^ taking 
possession of the coveted country — the French, through 
means of Military posts, and the English by actual 
settlement. Tlie Ohio Company had established a 
trading post at Wills' Ci'eek, (Cumberland,) just at the 
eastern base of the Alleghanies; and Gist had pre- 
vailed on eleven families to form, with him, a settle- 
ment farther west, near the Youghiogeny. The 
French had redoubled their activity, and had now 
pushed their Military posts forward, almost to the 
Fort which the Ohio Company was erecting on the 
Ohio. In this extremity, the Company appealed to 
the Governor of Virginia, Ilol)ert Dinwiddle, a grasp- 
ing Scotchman, for support. He was himself a sto(;k- 
holder, and listened favorably to its appeal. A com- 
missioner. Captain William Trent, was sent to expos- 
tulate with the French Commander on the Ohio, and 
to insist that he should withdraw his forces from the 
Valley of that river. Trent also took guns, powder, 
shot and clothing, as presents for the Indians. He 
was still 150 miles away from his destination, when he 



26 GEOKGE WASHINGTON. 

heard that there had been a fight between the French 
and then- Indian Allies, on the one side, and some 
tribes which were friendly to the English, on the 
other : that the latter had been defeated, and that the 
French were triumphant everywhere. Trent lost 
heart and returned to Williamsburg, without having 
accomplished anything. 

Governor Dinwiddle now looked around for a 
person more fitted to fulfil a mission which required 
physical strength and moral energy, a courage to cope 
with savages, and a sagacity to negotiate with white 
men. Washington was suggested to him. True, he 
was only twenty-one years old ; l)ut he was already 
Adjutant General of his District, and familiar with 
the matters in controversy. His experience as a 
woodsman fitted him for an expedition into the wilder- 
ness ; and his great discretion and self command, for a 
negotiation with the wily French Commanders and 
fickle savages. He was accordingly chosen. He ac- 
cepted the position with the utmost alacrity, in spite 
of the dangers and fatigues of a journey through a 
country almost entirely unexplored by white men, and 
inhabited by Indians who were either hostile to the 
English, or of doubtful attachment. 

He commenced his journey from Williamsburg the 
day on which he was commissioned (October 31st, 
1753), and arrived on the 14th November at Will's 
Creek. There he engaged guides to conduct him 
over the Alleghanies, the passage of which, at that 
season of the year, was very difticult. After sur- 



GEORGE WASHINGTON, 27 

mounting considerable impediments, occiasioned by 
snow and liigh waters, he at last reached the Monon- 
gahela. There he learned that the French general, 
commanding on the Ohio, was dead, and that the greater 
part of his forces had gone into winter quarters. Fur- 
suing his route, he examined the country, through 
which he passed, with a military eye, and, with con- 
summate judgment, selected the spot at the confluence 
of the Monongahela and the Alleghany (where the 
French some time afterward erected Fort Duqesne, 
and where Pittsburgh now stands), as an advanta- 
geous and commanding position, which it was advisa- 
ble to inamediately seize and fortify. 

After employing a few days among the Indians 
there, trying to fasten tliem to the English, and to 
learn the actual state of affairs on tlie frontier, and 
after procm-ing some of the chiefs to accompany 
him (whose fidelity he took the most judicious means 
to secure), he ascended the Alleghany River until, at 
the mouth of French Creek, he found the first fort 
occupied by French troops. Here he was delayed 
several days ])y the machinations of their commander, 
a rollicking, Indianized Frenchman, Captain Joncaire, 
the veteran intriguer of the frontier ; who, when 
pretty well drunk, swore that " it was their absolute de- 
sign to take possession of the country, and they woukl 
do it." Proceeding further up the creek to another 
fort, Washington was received by the Chevalier Le- 
gardeur do St. Pierre, the commanding officer of the 
French forces on the Ohio, and delivered to him the 



28 GEORaK WASHINGTON. 

letter of Governor Dinwiddle. On the evening of 
December 14th, 1753, the Chevalier de St. Pierre 
delivered to him a sealed reply to Governor Dinwid- 
dle's letter, and on the 16th Washington started 
homewards. He reached Williamsburgh on the 16th 
February 1754, after undergoing infinite fatigue on 
the route, and incurring considera])le danger from the 
liostile Indians by whom it was infested. 

The exertions made by Major Washington on this 
occasion, the perseverance with which he surmounted 
the difiiculties of the journey, and the judgment dis- 
played in his conduct towards tlie Indians, raised him 
in the public opinion, as well as in that of the Gov- 
ernor, Dinwiddle. His journal, drawn up for the 
information of that official, was soon published, and 
was generally considered as strongly evidencing the 
solidity of his understanding and the fortitude of his 
mind. From that hour he was the rising hope of 
Yirglnla. 



CHAPTER Y. 

LT. COL. WASHINGTON BEGINS THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR. 

As the answer of the commandant of tlie French 
forces on the Ohio indicated, no disposition to with- 
draw from that country, Lieutenant-Governor Dinwid- 
die thought it necessary to make preparations to 
maintain the right asserted over it by the British 
Crown. 

Captain Trent was accordingly dispatched with all 
speed to the frontier, with instructions to raise a 
company of 100 men, and to march forthwith to the 
Ohio, and finish, as soon as possible the fort, which 
the Ohio company had already commenced there. 

Washington was empowered to raise a like force at 
Alexandria; to procure and forward munitions and 
supplies for the fort, and then to proceed thither with 
his company and assume command. 

The House of Burgesses having meanwhile met, 
authorized the Governor, with tlie advice of the Coun- 
cil, to raise a regiment of 300 men, and appropriated 
£10,000 for the expedition. 

The command of this regiment was offered to Ma- 
jor Washington ; but he modestly declined to accept 

it, on the ground that it was a " charge too great for 

29 



30 aEOEGE WASHINGTON. 

his inexperience and youth to be entrusted with." 
It was, therefore, given to Colonel Joshua Fry, an 
English gentleman, and Washington was appointed 
Lieutenant-Colonel. 

On the 2d of April 1754, he set off from Alexan- 
dria for the scene of operations, taking with him two 
companies, aggregating 150 men. Before reaching 
Will's Creek he learned that Captain Trent's com- 
pany had been captured while working upon the fort. 
This proved to be true. He met them at Will's 
Creek. From them Washington learned that the 
French had suddenly appeared before the unhnished 
fort with a thousand men, furnished with artillery ; 
that Captain Trent and his Lieutenant were both 
absent, and that resistance being out of the question, 
the men had surrendered upon condition that they 
might retire to the English settlement, taking their 
tools with them. 

Washington was now in the utmost perplexity. He 
found himself with a handful of raw recruits, far 
from support, in the midst of a wilderness, and in 
presence of an enemy, not only greatly superior in 
numbers and discipline, but well provided with artil- 
lery and munitions of war, and within reach of con- 
stant supplies and reinforcements. He was well ad- 
vised, too, that another army was already ascending 
the Ohio, and that 600 Indians were about to join 
the force in front of him. StiU, notwithstanding tlie 
accumulating dangers, it would not do to fall back, 
nor t.) show signs of apprehension; for in that case 



GEOKGE WASHINGTON. 31 

his Indian allies would desert him, and his own troops 
lose confidence. He called a council of w^*r, which 
decided upon an advance to the Ohio company's 
store-house, at the mouth of Redstone Creek, where 
they would fortify themselves and await reenforce- 
ments. 

Sixty men were accordingly sent forward to open 
a road, and Washington wrote to the Governors of 
Pennsylvania, Yii-ginia, and Maryland, to apprise tliem 
of his situation, and asking for reenforcements and 
supplies. 

Washington himself set out for the front on the 
29th of April, and found the working detail progress- 
ing slowly over Savage Mountain, and through the 
forest beyond it, which has since acquired the sinister 
name of " The Shades of Death." On the 9th of 
May they had advanced but twenty miles. 
Every day, traders, retreating from before the French, 
came into the Camp, and from them Washington 
learned that the French had occupied in force the very 
spot wliieli he had himself selected for a Fort, and 
w^ere themselves constructing one there, to which they 
had given the name of Du Quesne, in honor of the 
Governor of Canada ; that they were successfully 
winning over the Indians to their side, and preparing 
to advance against the English Colonists. 

He had, meanwhile, reached the Youghiogeny, a 
tributary of the Monongahela. Here he received a 
message from an Indian Chief, (whose friendship he 
had won when on his lirst expedition to the Ohio,) to 



32 OEOKGE WASHINGTON. 

the effect that he was on his way to meet him, at the 
head of fifty warriors. A few days later (23d of 
June), his scouts reported tliat the French, 800 strong, 
were advancing, and had detached a part of their 
number on a secret expedition. He hastened to take 
position at a place called the Great Meadows, and 
began to entrench. 

On the night of the 25th, hearing that his Indian 
Allies were about six miles away, Washington set out, 
with forty men, to join them, determined to fall upon 
the enemy's detachment, which was known to be in 
the neighl)orhood. He reached the Indian encamp- 
ment at daybreak ; and, accompanied by the Chief 
and a few of his warriors, set out, with his own forty 
men, in search of the enemy. His Indians soon found 
their tracks, and, following them up like hounds, 
traced them to their camp in the woods. Advancing, 
with the \vliite men on his right, and the Indians on 
his left. Yrasliiiigton was upon the French before they 
knew it. But, quickly springing to arms, these re- 
sisted bravely for a quarter of an hour, when, having 
lost several of their number, they gave way. They 
were soon overtaken, however, and all of them cap- 
tured but one, who carried the news to Fort Du 
Quesne. Ten of the French had fallen in the fight, 
and one had been wounded. Among the killed was 
the ofiicer in command of the detachment, a young 
soldier of much merit and popularity, named de 
Jumonville. The prisoners, of whom there wei-o 
twenty-one, would have l)een massacred by the Indians 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 33 

had not Washington prevented it. His loss was one 
killed and three wounded. The prisoners were imnae- 
diatelj sent, under a strong guard, to Winchester, 
where Governor Dinwiddle was at that time. 

Washington, knowing that the main French Army, 
estimated at nearly 1,000 men, exclusive of their In- 
dian Allies, would soon be upon him, began forthwith 
to strengthen his defences at the Great Meadows, and 
at the same time sent an urgent request for reinforce- 
ments, to Colonel Fry, who was encamped at Wills' 
Creek. To Governor Dinwiddle he wrote ; 

" I shall expect every hour to be attacked, and by 
unequal numbers, which I must withstand, if there are 
five to one ; for I fear the consequence wdll be that 
we shall lose the Indians, if we suffer ourselves to be 
driven back. Your Honor may depend I mil not be 
surprised, let them come at Avhat hoar they will, and 
this is as much as I can promise ; but my 1)est endeav- 
ors shall not be wanting to effect more. I doubt not 
you will hear I am beaten, but you Avill hear at the 
same time that w^e have done our duty in fighting as 
long as there is a shadow of hope." 

About this time. Colonel Fry died, and the com- 
mand of the Regiment devolved on Washington. The 
Expedition w-as at the same time placed under com- 
mand of Colonel Lines, of North Carolina, a veteran 
soldiei', who had reached Winchester wdth 350 troops 
from that State. But neither he nor his men took 
any part in the campaign. 

The rest of Washington's Eegiment was now 



34 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

brought forward from Cumberland, increasing his 
force to 300 men. With it, came the Surgeon of the 
Hegiment, Dr. Craik, a Scotchman by birth, and des- 
tined to become Washington's faithful and confiden- 
tial friend throughout the remainder of his life. 

Shortly afterwards, an Independent Company of 
Sonth Carolinians, 100 strong, came into Camp, under 
command of Captain Mackay. As he bore the King's 
Commission, while Washington's was bestowed by 
Yirginia, Captain Mackay refused to obey the com- 
mands of Colonel Washington. 

On the 11th of June, Washington resumed his 
march across the mountains, leaving Captain Mackay 
and his Company, as a guard, at Fort Necessity. He 
had proceeded only thirteen miles, when he learned, 
from some friendly Indians, that the French, as nu- 
merous as the pigeons in the woods, were advancing 
upon him. Sending back for Captain Mackay's Com- 
pany, he prepared to give battle. But, reflecting that 
his men were ill-armed, that they had been witliout 
Ijread for six days, and had Init a very small supply of 
meat, and that his position was untenable, he called a 
council of war ; and, in pursuance of its advice, fell 
l)ack to Fort Necessity, and began a ditch around the 
stockade. At this critical juncture, lie was deserted 
by his Indian Allies. 

Early on the morning of the 3d of July, while he 
and his men were working on the Fort, the French, 
estimated at 1,500 men, appeared, and commenced a 
furious attack, which was i-eceived with much intre- 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 36 

pidity. The a(*.tion continued till dark, when the 
French officer, De Yilliers, proposed terms of capitu- 
lation; and, in the course of the night, articles were 
signed, by which the Fort was surrendered, on con- 
dition that its garrison should be allowed the honors 
of war ; and permitted to retain their arms and 
baggage, and to march, without molestation, to the 
inhabited parts of Virginia. 

In this affair, the Virginians, out of 305 officers 
and men, lost twelve killed and forty-three wounded. 
The loss of the South Carolina Company is unknown. 
The loss of the French and Indians is supposed to 
have been much greater. 

Having taken his men to Wills' Creek, Washington 
proceeded to Williamsl)urg, wdth Captain Mackay, to 
make his Heport to the Governor. Great credit was 
given to Colonel Washington by his countrymen for 
the courage and good sense which he displayed 
throughout the expedition ; and the House of Burgess- 
es voted their thanks to him and the officers under 
his command, and gave 300 pistoles to be distrilnited, 
as a reward, for their bravery and good conduct, to 
the men who participated in the defense of Fort 
Necessity. 

Early in August, AVashington rejoined his Eegi-. 
ment,at Alexandria, whither it had been ordered. But 
shortly afterwards. Governor Dinwiddle, in order to, 
put an end to the dispute which had arisen as to the 
rank of officers 1)earing the King's Commission, when 
serving with Provincial officers, and the right which 



36 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

the King's officers claimed to command Provincial 
officers of every grade, broke up Washington's Kegi- 
ment into Independent Companies. In the course of 
the winter, orders were also received from England, 
which directed, not only that all officers commissioned 
hj the King, or bv his General in North America, 
should take rank over all officers commissioned by 
Grovernors of the respective Provinces, but that Gen- 
eral and Field officers, of the Provincial troops, should 
have no rank when serving with General and Field 
officers commissioned by the Crown. 

Colonel Washington possessed too entirely the 
proud and punctilious feelings of a soldier, to submit 
to a degradation so humiliating as this ; and, therefore, 
while professing his unabated inclination to continue 
in the service, if permitted to do so without a sacrifice 
too great to be made, he refused, indignantly, to hold 
a commission on such dishonoring terms, and retired 
from the Army. 

His first care was to visit his mother, and to provide 
for her welfare and that of his l)rothers and sisters. 
This being done, he took up his residence at Mount 
Yernon, and devoted his attention to the duties of 
D]-ivate b'fe. 



CHAPTEE YI. 



Little as he himself knew it, Washington had 
kindled, in the Virginia Wilderness, a flame which set 
all Europe ablaze; for the death-blow given to De 
Jnmonville was the first blow struck in that great war, 
known in American History as the French and Indian 
War^ and in European History as The Seven Years' 
War — a war in which England and Prussia fought 
on the one side, and France, Spain, Austria, Russia, 
Sweden and Poland on the other a war in which 
Frederick the Great laid the foundations of the Ger- 
man Empire of to-day ; a war which lost to France 
every foot of her boundless American possessions ; a 
war in which Olive l^egan the construction of that 
mighty Indian Empire, whereof the Queen of Eng- 
land is now the Empress ; a war which prepared the 
way for the independence of the United States of 
America. 

The English Government, aroused, by the events on 

the Ohio, to the necessity of defending its possessions 

in that quarter, and considering those events as the 

commencement of war, instructed the Governors of 

the respective Colonies to repel force by force, and to 

37 



38 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

take effectual measures to dislodge the French from 
their posts on the Oliio. It also recommended to them 
Union, for their mutual protection and defence, and 
urged them to secure the friendship of the Six 
Nations. 

But the impossibility of uniting the Colonies in any 
plan of action becoming apparent, the English Gov- 
ernment determined to carry on the war with British 
troops, aided by such reinforcements as the several 
Colonies would voluntarily afford ; and in 1755 Gen- 
eral Edward Braddock, a veteran officer, was sent to 
America, with a respectable body of troops destined 
for this service. 

One of the first measures which he adopted was a 
convention of the several Governors, for the purpose 
of settling the plan of Military operations. This 
Council was held in Alexandria, Ya., in April 1755, 
and three Expeditions were there agreed upon. 

The first was against Fort Du Quesne, and was to 
be undertaken by General Braddock in person, with 
the British troops, and such reinforcements as Vir- 
ginia and Maryland could furnish. 

The second was against Niagara and Fort Fron- 
tenac. It was to consist of American Regulars, to be 
commanded by Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts. 

The third was against Crown Point, and was to be 
executed by Colonial troops from New England and 
New York, and to be commanded by Major General 
William Johnson. 

Braddock had, meanwhile, landed his troops at Alex- 



OEORGE WASHINGTON. 39- 

andria. They consisted of two British Kegiments of 
500 men each ; one commanded by Sir Peter Halket, 
and the other by Colonel Dunbar. These Regiments 
were to be augmented to 700 men each by picked men, 
who were to be enlisted in Virginia. Besides these, 
there was a train of artillery, and a detachment of 
thirty seamen under command of a Midshipman and 
a Lieutenant ; and also two Companies of Pioneers, six 
of Rangers, and one troop of Light Horse. 

It having been reported to General Braddock, soon 
after his arrival, that Colonel Washington would be 
pleased to take part in the Campaign, he, having been 
informed of the Colonel's merit, of his knowledge of 
the Coimtry which was to be the theatre of action, 
and of his motives for retiring from the service, in- 
vited him to enter his Military family as a Volunteer 
Aide-de-Camp. This invitation Washington instantly 
accepted, despite his mother's entreaties, and repaired 
at once to the General's Headquarters. There he was 
courteously received by Braddock, wlio expressed, in 
flattering terms, the impression he had received of his 
merits, and was cordially w^elcomed by the General's 
Aides, Captains Orme and Morris. He was also pre- 
sented to the Colonial Governors — Shirley, of Massa- 
chusetts ; Delancey, of New York ; Morris, of Penn- 
sylvania ; and Sharpe, of Maryland — who, with Din- 
widdle, of Virginia, had been summoned to Alexandria 
by Braddock, as has been already narrated. This w^as 
done in a manner which showed that his merits were 
justly appreciated. 



40 G-EORGE WASHINGTON. 

Braddock now set out for Wills' Creek (Cumber- 
land), and on the 19tli of May his Army was concen- 
trated there. So great, however, were the difficulties 
of obtaining wagons and other necessary supplies for 
the Expedition, that the troops could not be put in 
motion till the middle of June. 

While at Cumberland, Washington again met his 
friend, Dr. Craik, and became acquainted with Cap- 
tain Horatio Gates, of whom we shall hear much here- 
after, and also with Dr. Hugh Mercer, a Scotchman 
about thirty-three years of age, who had been a Sur- 
geon in the forces of the Pretender, at Culloden, and 
who, having escaped to Virginia, was now serving 
under the standard of the House of Hanover, against 
which he had so lately fought. 

Here, too, Washington, for the iirst time, saw an 
army encamped in strict conformity to Kegulations, 
and military discipline enforced with all the precision 
of a martinet. In these exercises the Virginians cut 
but a sorry figure, according to the journal of Captain 
Orme, who comments upon their " languid, spiritless 
and unsoldier-like appearance, which, with the lowness 
and ignorance of most of their officers, gave little 
hopes of their future good behavior." How little did 
he understand them ! 

During the halt at Cumberland, Washington was 
sent down to Williamsburg, to bring on £4,000 for the 
Military Chest. He returned, after an absence of 
eight days, escorted by eight men, " which eight men," 
he writes, " were two days assembling ; but, T believe, 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 4:1 

would not have been more than as many seconds dis- 
persing^ if I had been attacked." 

At length, through the characteristic promptness 
and unwearied exertions of Benjamin Franklin, Post- 
master-General of America, transportation was pro- 
vided ; and Braddock set off from Cumberland, with 
his Staff, and troop of Light Horse, to overtake his 
advance, which had marched six days before under 
Sir Peter Halket. 

On the third day of the march, Washington was 
seized with a raging fever, which absolutely disabled 
him from riding on horseback. Persisting, however, 
in his refusal to remain behind the troops, he was 
conveyed with them in a covered wagon. General 
Braddock, who found the difficulties of the march, 
arising from the badness of the roads and his long 
train of wagons, infinitely greater than had been ex- 
pected, began privately to consult him respecting the 
measures which it would be most proper to pursue. 
Thus called upon, Washington gave his counsel with 
becoming modesty, but with his accustomed clearness. 
He urged Braddock to leave his heavy artillery and 
baggage with the rear guard; and, w^ith a chosen 
body of troops and some light artillery and stores of 
absolute and immediate necessity, himself to press 
forward to Fort Du Quesne, before it could be rein- 
forced. 

His advice was adopted. Twelve hundred picked 
men, with ten field pieces, constituted the advance, 
under the command of Braddock in person. They 



42 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

were to take with them only such wagons as the train 
would absolutely require, and to carry their provisions 
and necessary baggage on pack-horses. They set out 
immediately (19th of June) ; but, '' instead of pushing 
on with vigor, without regarding a little rough road, 
they were halting," says Wasliington, " to level every 
mole-hill, and to erect bridges over every brook." 
They w^ere thus four days in reaching the Youghio- 
geny — only nineteen miles. At that place, Washing- 
ton became so ill that he was peremptorily ordered to 
remain behind; Braddock giving him his word of 
honor that he sliould, at all events, be enabled to 
rejoin the advance, before it reached Fort Du Quesne. 

Though too ill to ride on horseback, he rejoined 
Braddock on the 8th of July, wlien the army was 
within twelve miles of Fort Du Quesne. He was 
warmly received by all ; and, though still very w^eak, 
immediately entered on the duties of his station. The 
attack on the Fort was to be made the next day. The 
Country had been reconnoitred, and the plan of attack 
determined upon. The advance was to consist of 
E-egulars under Lieutenant Colonel Gage. Washing- 
ton suggested that the Virginia Bangers, who were 
accustomed to the Country and to the Indian mode of 
warfare, should be sent forward instead. This sugges- 
tion was angrily rebuked by Braddock, who was indig- 
nant that a young provincial officer should presume to 
instruct a veteran like himself. 

Early on the morning of the 9th of July, the army 
began to march, in the greatest order, with bayonets 



GEORGE WASHINaTOK. 43 

fixed, colors flying, drums beating and fifes playing. 

Washington, with his keen and youthful relish for 
military affairs, was delighted with their perfect order 
and equipment, so different from the rough fighters to 
which he had been accustomed, and often, in after 
life, used to speak of the effect upon him of the first 
sight of a well-disciplined European army marching, 
in high confidence and bright array, to l)attle. 

Within about seven miles of Fort Du Q.iesne, as 
the advance, immediately after crossing the Monon- 
gahela, in an open wood thick set with high grass, 
was pressing forward, entirely unapprehensive of dan- 
ger, it was suddenly attacked by an invisible enemy, 
a,nd thrown into some confusion. But the General 
having brought up the main body, and the attack of 
the enemy having l)een suspended for the moment 
by the death of their commanding ofiicer, order was 
restored. The enemy's attack, however, was soon re- 
newed with increased fury, and the English were 
thrown into utter confusion. 

Braddock possessed courage in an eminent degree, 
but he was without experience in that species of war 
in which he was engaged, and seems not to have been 
endowed with that fertility of genius which adapts 
itself to the existing state of things, and invents ex- 
pedients fitted to the emergency. In the present crisis, 
he was unfortunate in the choice of his measures. 
Neither advancing on the enemy nor retreating,' he 
exerted his utmost powers to form his broken troops, 
under an incessant and galling fire, on the very ground 



44 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

where they were first attacked. In his fruitless efforts 
to restore order, every mounted officer, but Washington, 
was either killed or wounded. Two horses had been 
shot under him and four bullets had passed through 
his coat. His escape without a w^ound was almost 
miraculous. Sir Peter Halket had been shot down at 
the head of his regiment. Braddock still remained in 
the centre of the field, in the desperate hope of 
retrieving the fortunes of the day. The Virginia 
Hangers, who had been most efficient in covering his 
position, were nearly all killed or wounded. His 
Secretary, Shirley, had fallen by his side. Many of 
his officers had been slain within his sight, and most of 
his guard of Virginia Light Horse. Five horses had 
been killed under him. At length, a bullet passed 
through his right arm, and lodged in his lungs. As he 
was falling from his horse^ he was caught by Captain 
Stewart, and borne from the field, but with difficulty ; 
for, in his despair, he desired to be left there. The 
rout now became complete. The troops gave way in 
every direction. Every effort to rally them was inef- 
fectual, until they had crossed the Monongahela, when, 
being no longer pursued by the enemy who had been 
stopped by the plunder, they halted, and were again 
formed, but soon resumed their flight. 

Of eighty-six officers, twenty-six had been killed and 
thh'ty-seven wounded. Of the men, upwards of seven 
hundred had been either killed or wounded. The Yir- 
ginians had suffered the most : of one company only 
one man was left ; another company lost every com- 



aEOEGE WASHINGTON. 45 

missioned and non-commissioned officer, and most of 
its men. 

Braddock, deserted by his own troops, was borne 
from the field, along with his wounded aides, by Cap- 
tain Stewart and the remnant of the Virginians. On 
the 11th of July they reached Dunbar's camp, forty 
miles distant. That officer had been completely panic- 
stricken by the fugitives ; and, by his orders, all the 
ammunition, stores, and artillery had been destroyed. 
The whole army now began a disorderly retreat. 
On the 13th of July, they reached the Great Meadows, 
the scene of Washington's defeat, in the previous yeai*. 
There Braddock died that night ; and there he was 
buried the next morning before break of day, and 
" without a drum or a funeral note." " Whatever 
may have been his faults and errors, he liad expiated 
them by the hardest lot that can l)efall a soldier — an 
unhonored grave, in a strange land ; a memory clouded 
by misfortune; and a name forever coupled with 
defeat." 

Dunbar continued his flight. When he reached 
Cumberland, his forces amounted to 1,500 eifective 
men, enough to protect the frontier, and to recover 
the lost honor of the army ; but he paused only long- 
enough to dispose of liis sick and wounded, and hur- 
ried on his flight through the country, '' not thinking 
himself safe, as was sneeringly intimated, till he 
reached Philadelphia, whose inhabitants could protect 
him." 

The great disgrace of tins memorable defeat was 



4:6 GEORGE WASHINGTOK. 

not known till some time afterwards; when it was 
learned that Braddock's fine army had been routed hy 
a mere detachment of the enemy, sent out to impede 
its advance — 865 men a]] told, of whom only seventy- 
two were Frencii soldiers, and 146 Canadians, the rest 
being Indians, while the whole numl)er of their killed 
and wounded did not exceed seventy. It has been, 
not very unjustly, characterized as "the most extraor- 
dinary victory ever obtained, and the farthest flight 
ever made." 

The expeditions against Niagara and Crown Point 
also failed to accomplish the purposes for w^hich they 
were planned ; and the only gleam of victory which 
shone upon the British arms in the campaign of 1755, 
was the lurid glare whicli was cast upon them by the 
brutal victory over the poor Acadians. 

Acadia, the oldest French colony in North 
America, had l)een ceded to England in 1713, but 
the French still constituted nearly three-four tlis of its 
inhabitants. The English, pretending to fear that 
these French might give them trouble in the impend- 
ing war sent a force thither, took possession of the 
entire peninsula and, with circumstances of atrocious 
barbarity, drove 7,000 of them — men, women, and 
children — on ship-board, and scattered them among 
the English colonies, from Maine to Georgia. There 
they were cast ashore, not only penniless and helpless, 
but in broken households. To prevent their return, 
their villages and farms were laid waste ; their houses 
burned to the ground ; their horses and cattle seized 



GEOKGE WASHINGTON. 4:7 

and carried off as spoils of war ; and their l)eantif ul and 
fertile farms reduced to a wilderness. In the course 
of time forest trees choked up their orchards ; the 
ocean broke over their neglected dykes, and desolated 
their meadows. '' E-elentless misforfune pursued them, 
wherever they went. The annals of the human race," 
says Bancroft, " keep no record of sorrows so wan- 
tonly inflicted, so bitter and so perennial, as fell upon 
xhe French inhabitants of Acadia." 



]:- 



CHAPTER YIL 

COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE VIRGINIA FORCES. 

Washington arrived at Mount Vernon on the 26tli 
of July, still enfeebled by his long illness ; but the 
martial spirit l)urned him as hotly as ever. His con- 
nection with the army had ceased at the death of 
Braddock, but he was still Adjutant-General of the 
Northern Disdsion of the Province, and as such he 
immediately issued orders for the militia to be gotten 
in readiness to protect the frontier, which Dunbar's 
shameless flight hjad left utterly exposed to the rav- 
ages of the Indians. The General Assembly met at 
Williamsburgh on the 4th of August to devise 
measures for the public safety. £40,000 were 
promptly voted, and a Regiment of 1,000 men was 
ordered to be raised. 

Washington's friends urged him to ask for the 
command of the Regiment. With mingled modesty 
and pride, he declined to do so. But Yirginia had 
already learned to look upon him as the pride and 
ornament of her Military department. His conduct 
in Braddock's ill-fated expedition was universally 
extolled, and the common opinion of his countrymen 
was that had his advice been pursued the destruc- 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 49 

tion of the day had been avoided. He was in fact 
the instinctive choice of every one for the command, 
except a set, of which Grovernor Dinwiddie w^as the 
centre, which was urging the appointment of Colonel 
Innes for the command of the new Kegiment. 
There was one other, his mother, who begged him 
not to again risk his life in these frontier wars. To 
her he WTote : 

" If it is in my power to avoid going to the Ohio 
again, I shall ; but if the command is pressed upon 
me by the general voice of the Country, and offered 
upon such terms as cannot be objected against, it 
would reflect dishonor upon me to refuse it ; and that, 
I am sure, must, and ought to, give you greater unea- 
siness than my going in an honorable command ? " 

Yielding to the general desire. Governor Dinwid- 
die, August 14th, 1765, reluctantly offered the Com- 
mand of the Kegiment to Washington, who was also 
designated in his commission as Commander-in-Chief 
of all the forces raised, and to be raised, in the col- 
ony of Yirginia. To this honorable manifestation of 
the public confidence was added the uncommon privi- 
lege of naming his own field ofiicers. He cheerful- 
ly accepted the appointment, and entered upon his 
duties. Having made all necessary arrangements for 
the recruiting service, lie proceeded in person to \dsit 
the posts, and organize the remaining troops of Yir- 
ginia, who w^ere at the time dispersed in small detach- 
ments over an extensive frontier. His Head-Quarters 
were established at Winchester, then an insignificant 



50 GEOKGE WASHINaTON. 

settlement, on the extreme verge of civilization, but 
convenient, not only with reference to the protection 
of the frontier settlements of Yirginia, but for com- 
nmnication with the important Colonies of Pennsyl- 
vania, Maryland and South Carolina. 

Here Washington was brought into frequent and 
cordial intercourse with his old friend. Lord Fairfax, 
whose Manor of Greenway Court lay within a few 
miles of Winchester. The old soldier had again taken 
up his sword, had enlisted a troop of Cavalry, and 
was as quick to mount his war-steed as lie had, when 
last we saw him, been ready to spring into the saddle 
and follow the hounds. 

His services were soon put in requisition. AVash- 
ington having made all the arrangements which were 
possible for the defence of the frontier, had set out 
for Williamsburgh, where objects of the greatest 
importance required his attention. He was not only 
desirous of arranging, with the Lieutenant-Governor, 
the plan of future operations, but he also wished to 
impress upon him, and on the leading men of the 
Colony, the vast importance of devising proper means 
to retain the few Indians not already detached from 
the interest of the English by the French ; and the neces- 
sity for a more effectual Militia law, and an act to 
establish a complete system of Martial law among the 
troops in the regular service. While on the way he 
was overtaken by a courier from Colonel Stevens, 
commanding at Cumberland, with intelligence that a 
large number of French and Indians divided, as was 



aEORGE \VASHmGT(.)JS. 51 

then their custom, into several parties, had crossed 
the mountains, and were ravaging the valley of the 
Shenandoah, murdering and capturing men, women 
and children, burning their houses, and destroying 
their crops. Washington hastened back to Winches- 
ter, which had been thrown into -the utmost con- 
fusion and alarm. Old Lord Fairfax had assumed 
command and called out the Militia of the neighbor- 
ing counties. The whole country beyond Winchester 
was said to be at the mercy of the savages ; they had 
shut up the troops in their forts, and were advancing 
upon the town with lire, tomahawk and scalping- 
knife. The country people were flocking into the 
town for protection. All who could were flying with 
their families beyond the Blue E-idge. 

In the height of the confusion Washington rode 
into the town. His presence inspired some degree of 
confidence ; but liis utmost efforts to raise the militia, 
tliat he might lead them against the enemy, were una- 
vailing. They would not leave their families to be 
butchered by savages. Couriers were sent off to hurry 
up the militia ordered out by Lord Fairfax ; scouts to 
ascertain precisely the number of the foe, and to con- 
vey assurance of succor to tlie troops who had l)een 
fastened up in their forts ; and arms and munitions 
were gotten ready. But the Lidians recrossed the 
mountains as suddenly as they had come, and Wash- 
ington was given time to or2;anize his command, to 
dispose them for the protection of the frontier, and to 
provide supplies for them, and to discipline them. 



52 GEORGE WASHINGTON". 

Through his great and persevering efforts, an act 
was passed bj the Virginia Assembly, giving prompt 
operation to Courts-Martial, punishing insubordination, 
mutiny and desertion with adequate severity, and 
increasing the powers of the Commander. This being 
accomplished, he proceeded to perfect the discipline of 
his camp. His officers and men were instructed, not 
only in the school of the soldier, but in Indian war- 
fare. Forts were erected and roads made. 

He would have established liis headquarters at Cum- 
berland, but was prevented by the pretensions of 
a Captain Dagworthy of Maryland, who, l^eing at 
Cumberland with a company of thirty men, claimed 
the right to command that post over Lieutenant- 
Colonel Stevens of Washington's Regiment, on the 
ground that he himself bore the King's Commission ; 
and on the same ground, he contested tlie right 
of Colonel Washington to command. The latter, 
therefore, remained at Winchester. The question of 
rank disturbed the whole army to such a degree 
that it was determined to refer it to Major-General 
Shirley, who, upon the death of Braddock, had suc- 
ceeded to the command of the King's forces in the 
Colonies. 

As it was thought desirable that Colonel Washing- 
ton should confer in person with the Commander-in- 
Chief as to the approaching Campaign (1756), he re- 
solved to repair to the Head-Quarters of that officer at 
Boston, for that purpose, and to obtain at the same 
time his decision of tlie question as to rank, and some 



aEOBGE WASHINGTON. 63 

general regulation by which such difficulties could be 
prevented in future. 

Accordingly, on the 4:th of February 1756, he set 
out, leaving Colonel Stevens in command of the 
troops. He was accompanied by his Aide-de-Camp, 
Captain George Mercer, of Virginia, and Captain 
Stewart, of the Virginia Light Horse, the officer who 
had taken Braddock from the field of battle. 

In those days the conveniences for traveling, even 
between our chief cities, were few, and the roads were 
execrable. The party, therefore, travelled in Vir- 
ginia style on horseback, attended by their negro ser- 
vants in livery. In this way they accomplished a 
journey of five hundred miles in the depth of winter 
stopping a few days at Philadelphia and I^ew York. 
These cities were then comparatively small, and the 
arrival of a party of young southern officers attracted 
attention. The late battle on the Ohio was still the 
theme of every tongue, and the honorable way in 
which these young officers had acquitted themselves 
in it, made them objects of universal interest. Wash- 
ington's fame, especially, had gone before him ; hav- 
ing been spread l)y the officers who had served with 
him, and by the public honors decreed him by the 
Virginia Assembly. "Your name," wrote Gist the 
preceding autumn, "is more talked of in Pliiladelphia 
than that of any other person in the army, and every- 
body seems willing to venture under your command." 

With these prepossessions in his favor, when we 
consider Washington's noble person and demeanor, 



64: GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

his consummate liorsemansliip, tlie admirable horses 
he was accustomed to ride, and the aristocratical 
style of his equipments, we may imagine the effect 
produced by him and his little cavalcade, as they 
clattered through tlie streets of Philadelphia, New 
York and Boston. Their sojourn in each city w^as a 
continual fete. 

The mission to General Shirley was entirely suc- 
cessful as to the immediate question of rank ; the 
Commander-in-Chief, giving orders that Captain Dag- 
worthy should take rank as a Pro\dncial Captain, 
only, and therefore be subject to the orders of the 
Yirginia field ofiicers. But Washington had lioped to 
get the King's commissions for himself and his offi- 
cers, and in this he was disappointed. 

From General Shirley he learned that the main 
objects of the ensuing campaign would be the reduc- 
tion of Fort Niagara, so as to cut off communication 
between Canada and Louisiana ; the capture of Ticon- 
deroga and Crown Point as a measm-e of safety for 
New York; the taking of Fort Duquesne ; and the 
menacing of Quebec. 

Washington remained in Boston ten days, attending 
the meetings of the Massachusetts Legislature, in 
which the plan of military operations was ably dis- 
cussed, and receiving the most hospitable attentions 
from the polite and cultivated society of the place 
He then returned to New York. 

Tradition says that he fell in love tliere with Mary 
Phillipse, a niece and heiress of Adolphus Phillipse, a 



GEOR&E WASHINGTON. 55 

rich landholder, whose mansion house is still to bo 
seen on the banks of tlie Hudson. He met her at the 
house of an early friend and schoolmate, Beverly 
Robinson, of Yirginia, who had some time l)efore 
married her sister, and was now living elegantly in 
New York. The young lady is said to have been as 
beautiful and as attractive as she was wealthy ; and 
it is well known that Washington was among her 
avowed admirers. It is not probable, however, that 
he actually addressed her, for he was in New York 
only a few days; having been suddenly recalled to 
Virginia, by the menacing attitude of the French and 
Indians on the frontier of that province. The young 
lady was in due time wooed and won by Captain Mor- 
ris, who had, as one of Braddock's aide-de-camps, been 
his friend and companion in that disastrous expedi- 
tion. 



CHAPTER YTII.— 175a 

FORT DUQUESNE BECOMES FORT PITT. 

Eepairing directly to "Williamsburg, Colonel Wash- 
ington urged the Virginia Assem])ly to adopt more 
efficient measures for the capture of Fort Du Quesne, 
and the protection of the frontier. He particularly 
urged the organization and equipment of some com- 
panies of artillery and engineers. 

While still at the capital, news came that the 
French and Indians had again crossed the AUeghanies, 
and were ravaging the Yalley of the Shenandoah. 
Washington went at once to Winchester, whose in- 
habitants he found in great dismay, and took such 
measures as he could to defend the place. But they 
did not promise much ; for he soon found he could not 
induce the militia to turn out. The alarm increased. 
The French and Indians were within twenty miles of 
Winchester. Fears were entertained that they would 
even cross the Blue Hidge, and ravage the country 
below them. Express after express was sent to hasten 
the militia, but sent in vain. The Legislature requested 
the Governor to call out part of the militia of the 
eastern counties, and to send them to the relief of 

Winchester. A company of one hundred gentlemen 
56 



■Ai 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 57 

volunteered, under the command of Peyton Randolph, 
the Attorney-General, and hurried to the front. Judge 
Marshall says, that ten well-trained woodsmen, or In- 
dians, would have rendered more service. They would 
have conducted themselves gallantly in battle, no 
doubt; but they came too late, for the French and 
Indians disappeared towards the last of April, and 
took their way to Fort Du Quesne, laden with plunder, 
prisoners and scalps. Soon afterwards the militia 
appeared. 

Relieved from pressing danger. Colonel Washing- 
ton, after inspecting the frontier, again urged the 
Governor and Assembly to organize a force sufficient 
to drive the French from Fort Du Quesne. So long- 
as they held that post, the great Indian force which 
their ascendancy over those savages enabled them to 
bring into action, would always put it in their power to 
annoy, and infinitely to distress, the border counties ; 
perhaps, indeed, to acquire the possession of the whole 
Yalley of Virginia. " As defensive measures," said he, 
in a letter to Governor Dinwiddle, " are evidently in- 
sufficient for the safety and security of the country, I 
hope that no arguments are necessary to show the 
necessity of altering them to a vigorous offensive war, 
in order to remove the cause. * * Our scattered 
force, separated and dispersed as it is, in weak par- 
ties, avails little to stop the secret incursions of the 
savages. We can only put them to flight, or frighten 
them to some other part of the country ; whereas, had 
we strength enough to invade their lands, and assault 



58 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

their towns, we should restrain them from coming 
abroad, and leaving their families exposed. We should 
then remove the principal cause, and have stronger 
probability of success. We should be free from the 
many alarms, mischiefs and murders that now attend 
us ; we should inspu^t the hearts of our few Indian 
friends, and gain more esteem with them. In short, 
could Pennsylvania and Maryland be induced to join 
us in an expedition of this nature, and to petition his 
Excellency, Lord Loudoun (the newly-appointed Com. 
mander-in-Chief of the King's forces in America), for 
a small train of artillery, witli some engineers, we 
should then l)e able, in all human probability, to sub- 
due tlie terror of Fort Du Quesne, retrieve our char- 
acter with the Indians, and restore peace to our 
unhappy frontiers." 

In the apprehension that this favorite scheme would 
not be adopted, he submitted, at the same time, a plan 
for the defence of the frontier by building a strong 
fort at Winchester, which should be a deposit of mili- 
tary stores, quarters for the troops, and a place of 
refuge for the women and children in time of alarm, 
when the men had to take suddenly to the field — in a 
word, it was to be the citadel of the frontier. Besides 
this, there were to be several supporting posts at con- 
venient distances. He proposed also to abandon Fort 
Cumberland, as being out of the province, and out of 
the track of Indian incursions. 

None of these propositions got the favor of Gov- 
ernor Dinwiddie — a weak, obstinate and resentful 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 59 

man — whose ignorant meddling added so greatly to 
Washington's perplexities, that he would have re- 
signed his commission in despair, had he not been 
sustained by the applause of such men as Mr. Speaker 
Kobinson and Colonel Fairfax, and others who knew 
and appreciated him. " Our hopes, dear George," 
wrote Mr. Kobinson, " are all fixed on you for bring- 
ing our affairs to a happy issue. Consider what fatal 
consequences to your country, your resigning the com- 
mand at this time may be, especially as there is no 
doubt most of the officers would follow your example." 

In fact, the situation and services of the youthful 
comm-ander, shut up in a frontier town, destitute of 
forces, surrounded by savage foes, gallantly, though 
desparingly, devoting himself to the safety of a suffer- 
ing people, loere properly understood throughout the 
country, and excited a glow of enthusiasm in his favor. 
The Legislature, too, began to act, though inefficiently, 
appropriating £20,000 for the service, and increasing 
the provincial force to 1,500 men. 

The inglorious campaign of 1756 is illustrated by 
one daring act, which deserves mention. The Chiefs 
of the Indian bands which had twice ravaged the Yal- 
ley of the Shenandoah, lived at a village, Kittannin, 
about forty miles above Fort Duquesne. There they 
fitted out their warriors for their raids, and thither 
these returned with their prisoners and plunder. A 
party of two hundred and eighty Pennsylvanians un- 
dertook to surprise and destroy this savage nest. They 
were Gomina.nded by Colonel John Armstrong', and 



60 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

with him went the Scotchman, Dr. Hugh Mercer, of 
whom we have heretofore heard, and who was now 
a Captain in the service of Pennsylvania, and was to 
become the friend and neighbor of Washington. The 
expedition was as successful as it was daring. Thirty 
or forty warriors w^ere slain, the town was burned to 
the ground, and the party returned safely to the Eng- 
lish Settlements. 

At the ISIorth, the campaign dragged heavily along. 
General Loudoun, who had been appointed to succeed 
Braddock, did not reach Albany till the 29th of July 
(1756). Abercrombie, who had succeeded Shirley, 
had reached there a month before, but be had done 
nothing. There were about 10,000 troops — regulars 
and provincials — at that point. After much debate, it 
was decided to send a part of them, under General 
Webb, to the relief of Oswego, which was threatened 
by the French ; but he learned on the march that the 
post had been taken, and that its garrison were prison- 
ers. While the British Generals were debating, 
Field Marshal the Marquis de Montcalm (newly ar- 
rived from France), had acted. He was a different 
khid of soldier from Loudoun and Abercrombie. A 
great mind and a brave heart animated a small, but 
active and untiring body. Quick in tliought, quick in 
speech, quicker still in action, he comprehended every- 
thing at a glance, and moved with a celerity and 
a secrecy whicli utterly baffled his slow and pondering 
antagonists. Crown Point and Ticonderoga were 
visited and strengthened. Then, hastening to Mon- 



GEOKGE WASHINGTON. 61 

treal, lie put himself at the head of a force of regulars, 
Canadians and Indians; ascended the St. Lawrence to 
Lake Ontario ; laid siege to the two forts at Oswego ; 
drove the garrison of one into the other ; killed its Com- 
mander, Colonel Mercer ; made prisoners of both gar- 
risons ; and took an immense amount of Military stores 
and supplies, 121 pieces of artillery, fourteen mortars, 
six war vessels, a larger number of batteaux, and three 
chests of money. All this being done, Montcalm re- 
turned to Montreal in triumph, and sent the captured 
flags to be hung up as trophies in the Canadian 
churches, while Lord Loudoun retired leisurely to the 
City of New York, hung up his sword, and enjoyed 
his comfortal)le winter quarters. 

The Campaign of 1757, like that of 1756, was con- 
ducted in America with the greatest activity and abil- 
ity on the part of the French, and with corresponding 
inactivity and imbecility on the part of the English. 

In the course of July, Lord Loudoun set sail for 
Halifax, with six thousand men, to join, with a great 
fleet and an equal force of men under Admiral Hol- 
bourne, in an attack on Louisburg. Scarce had the 
tidings of his Lordship's departure from New York 
reached Montcalm, when that ever-active soldier 
swooped down on Lake George with nearly eight 
thousand men, of whom the greater part were Cana- 
dians and Indians, and on the 1st of August (1757), 
appeared before Fort William Henry. Its garrison of 
500 men was commanded by a brave old ofiicer. Colo- 
nel Monro. A summons to surrender was answered 



^2 GEORGE AVASHINGTON. 

by a bold defiance. For five days Monro held out, 
trusting to be relieved by General Webb, who was at 
Fort Edward, fifteen miles away, with five thousand 
men. He trusted in vain, and was obliged at length 
to surrender. Montcalm, appreciating his valor, granted 
him honorable terms; then, having demolished the 
fort, returned once more in triumph, mth the spoils of 
victory, to hang up fresh trophies in tlie churches of 
Canada. His losses in killed and wounded had been 
but fifty-three. 

Lord Loudoun had formed, meanwhile, a junction 
with Admiral Holbourne ; and their fleet, bearing 
twelve thousand troops, approached within two miles 
of its destination, Louisburg. Lord Loudoun saw that 
the French were resolved to defend this stronghold, 
and prudently abandoned the attempt to take it. Thus 
ended the Northern Campaign, by land and sea, to the 
shame of England, and to the glory of France. 

The Eno-lisli liad now been driven from every cabin 
in the basin of the Ohio ; and Montcalm had destroyed 
every vestige of their power within tliat of tlie St. 
Lawrence. France had her posts on each side of tlie 
Lakes, and at Detroit, at Mackinaw, at Kaskaskia, and 
at New Orleans. She had connected Canada and Lou- 
isiana by three Avell-esta])lished bnes, the one by way 
of the Alleghany to Fort Duquesne ; another l)y the 
way of the Maumee to the Wabash ; and a third by 
way of Chicago to the Illinois. She was in military 
possession of four-fifths of all North America, and 
seenaed to have established her claim to every foot, of. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 63 

land which was drained by the Mississippi and the St. 
Lawrence. Her American possessions were twenty 
times as great as those of England. On the Continent, 
too, England and her Allies had been everywhere de- 
feated. So dark an hour, so gloomy a prospect, she 
had not known in many a year. 



CHAPTEH IX. 

WILLIAM PITT AND VICTORY. 1757-1758. 

Ill their humiliation and distress, the people of Eng- 
land turned for lielp to the only man who could, in 
their opinion and in his own, save the country — Wil- 
liam Pitt — afterwards known as the great Earl of 
Chatham. Yielding to the popular will, the King or- 
dered him to form a Ministry; and in July 1757 he 
assumed office. " Sire ! " said he to his Sovereign, 
"give me your confidence, and I will deserve it." 
" Deserve my confidence," replied the King, " and 
you shall have it ; " and George kept his word. 

Straightway the voice of " the great Commoner " 
resounded throughout the world, impelling the armies 
of England, and the servants of the Britisli State to 
achievements of lasting glory from the St. Lawrence 
to the Ganges. Animated and governed hy his genius, 
a Corporation for trade did what Eome had not 
dreamed of, and a British Merchant's Clerk set his 
foot in permanent triumph, where Alexander the Great 
had faltered. Inspired and strengthened hy him, the 
great Frederick won, on the 5th of December, the 
greatest victory which had illustrated the 18th Cen- 
turv ; a ^dctory which established on a firm basis the 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 65 

power of that Prussia, which Bismarck has in our day 
made supreme in Germany. The soldiers knew how 
the fate of Prussia hung on that battle; and when a 
grenadier of the Guard, on the field of carnage, began 
to sing " Thanks be to God," the whole army in the 
darkness of evening, standing amidst thousands of the 
dead, uplifted the hymn of praise. 

No less potent was his will in America. Loudoun, 
whom Franklin, with characteristic humor and saga- 
city, likened to " St. George on the Signs, who was 
always on horse-back, but never rode on," w^as forth- 
witli recalled. The Colonies w^ere called on to put 
20,000 men into the field. England would arm, equip 
and supply them ; nothing would be required, or ex- 
pected of the colonists but to levy, clothe and pay 
them, and even these charges the King would strongly 
urge Parliament to reimburse ; all company and field 
ofiicers should rank with British officers of similar 
grade, according to the date of their commissions. 
Three several expeditions w^ere to be set in motion — 
the first, under the command of Amherst, was to join 
the fleet under Boscawen for the siege of Louisburg ; 
and the second, under the command of Abercrombie 
was to capture Ticonderoga and Crown Point. The 
third, under Forbes, was to move against Fort Dn- 
quesne. 

Louisburg was taken on the 27th of July 1758. Tho 
hero of tlie expedition was Brigadier-General James 
Wolfe, an officer young in years, l)ut a veteran in mili- 
tary service, and destined to gain an almost roman- 



66 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

tic celebrity. He was l.)ut tliirty-one, but had been 
eighteen years in the service ; was at Dettingen and 
Fontenoy, and liad won lanrels at Saffeldt. None was 
more galhint than young Eicliard Montgomery : just 
one-and-twenty, and Irish by birth ; an humble officer 
in AYolfe's Brigade, but also a servant of humanity, 
enlisted in its corps of immortals. Captain Amherst, 
l>rother of the General, carried home the news to Eng- 
Lind, with eleven pair of colors. There were rejoicings 
throu2:hout the Kino-dom. The colors were borne in 
triumph through the streets of London, with a parade 
of horse and foot, kettle drums and trumpets, and the 
thunder of artillery, and were put up as trophies in St. 
Paul's Cathedral. Thus fell the power of France on 
the Coast. 

On the banks of Lake George 9,024 provincials 
from New England, New York and New Jersey had 
meanwhile assem])led. Among them were Benjamin 
Stark of New Hampshire, now promoted to Captain: 
and the generous, open-hearted Israel Putnam, a Con- 
necticut Major, of gentle disposition, l)rave, sincere 
and artless. By the side of the provincials rose the 
tents of the Regulars, 6,367 in number. Of the whole 
force Abercrombie w^as Commander-in-Chief; but it 
was the gallant spirit of Howe, a young nobleman, 
brave and enterpi'ising, full of martial entlmsiasin, 
and endeared to tlie soldiery l)y the generosity of his 
disposition, and the sweetness of Ids manners, wliich 
infused ardor and coniidence into every l)osom. 

On the 5th day of July (1758) the whole armament 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 67 

of more than 15,000 men, the largest army that had 
ever been assembled in America, embarked in boats, 
and moved do^vn the beautiful Lake. Resting from 
sunset till midnight, they kept on their way till they 
reached a point which still bears the name of Lord 
Howe. Here they landed and began their march. 
Their advance under Howe soon came upon a party of 
the enemy. In the skirmish which ensued he was the 
first to fall. The grief of his fellow-soldiers spoke 
his eulogy. Massachussetts voted him a monument in 
Westminster Abbey, and America bewailed his loss. 
"With him expired the soul of the enterprise. 

A few days later A bercrombie, who had fallen back, 
on the death of Howe, again advanced, but was driven 
back with a loss of nearly 2,000 men in killed and 
wounded. He had met Montcalm, whose aljility, and 
activity and genius made up for the smallness of his 
force. He had only 2,800 French and 450 Canadians. 
The English still exceeded the French four-fold. 
Their artillery was near, and could easily force a pass- 
age. But Abercrombie, a victim to the extremest 
fright and consternation, retreated that same evening 
in the utmost haste to his boats, nor did he stop till 
he had placed the Lake between himself and Mont- 
calm. Even then he sent his artillery and ammunition 
to Albany for safety. 

While Abercrombie lay in inglorious ease near the 
Lake, one of his ofiicers, Colonel Bradstreet, led an 
expedition consisting of nearly 3,000 provincials 
rijT^ainst Fort Frontenac, on the north side of Lake On- 



QS GEORGK WASHINGTON^. 

tario, and took it with an immense amount of merchan- 
dize and military stores, and all of the enemy's ship- 
ping on the Lake. After dismantling the fortifications 
and destroying everything which he could not carry 
away, he returned with his troops to the army at Lake 
George. Early in November (1758) Abercroml)ie was 
superseded as Commander-in-Chief by Amherst, who 
had arrived at Lake George in October. 

Pitt, who had carefully studied the geography of 
Kortli America, knew that the capture and destruction 
of Fort Fr( )ntenac had opened the way to Niagara ; 
and he turned liis mind from the defeat on Lake 
George to see whether the banner of England was 
already waving over Fort Duquesne, the key of the 
West. For its conquest he relied mainly on the cen- 
tral provinces. Maryland contributed nothing to the 
campaign. But General Forbes, to whom this ex- 
pedition had been entrusted, saw, after long delays, 
twelve hand ed and fifty Highlanders arrive from 
South Carolina. They were reinforced by three hun- 
dred and fifty Royal Americans. Pennsylvania raised 
twenty-seven hundred men ; and Virginia se: t two 
regim nts of nineteen hundred men under Washington. 
Yet great as were these preparations, Forbes would 
never have seen the Oliio, but for AYashington. 

On the 21st of July arrived tidings of the brilliant 
success which had attended General Amlierst's expe- 
dition against Louisburg. This intensified Washing- 
ton's impatience to march. Learning that Forbes had 
some thought of throwing a body of light troops in 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 69 

advance, he wrote to Colonel Bouquet, who was in 
immediate command of the army, begging to have 
himself and his Regiments included in this detach- 
ment. " I hope," said he, " that I may be allowed to 
say that from long intimacy with these woods, and fre- 
quent scouting in them, my men are at least as well 
acquainted with all the passes and difficulties as any 
troops that can be employed." The plan was, how- 
ever, abandoned, in consequence of the determination 
of Forbes, against Washington's frequent and earnest 
remonstrances, and in spite of the loudly expressed 
indignation of the Yirginia Assembly, to open a new 
road through Pennsylvania to Fort Duquesne. 

September had come before Forbes, whose life 
was slowly ebbing away, was borne in a litter to the 
front, at Raystowm, thirty miles from Cumberland. 
Meanwhile Washington had been busy providing and 
disciplining his men for the march. As they were 
scantily supplied vdtli regimental clothing, lie con- 
ceived the idea of equipping them in the light Indian 
hunting garb, and adapted it himself. Two companies 
were accordingly equipped in this style, and they 
having been ordered to General Head-Quarters, their 
costume was greatly admired, and was gradually adopt- 
ed by the Americans in their subsequent warfare. 

The 1st of December found Washington still at 
Cumberland, his troops sick and dispirited, his Indi- 
ans all gone, and the brilliant expedition which he had 
anticipated dwindling down to a tedious operation of 
road-making. In the meantime, his scouts had in- 



70 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

formed him that the French force, inchiding Indians, 
at the fort, did not exceed 800. At length, Forbes 
having reached Raystown, Washington joined him 
there with his forces, and was received by the Gen- 
eral with the highest marks of respect. On all occa- 
sions, both public and private, that officer now treated 
his opinions with the greatest deference, adopting his 
plan of march, and an order of battle which still exists. 
The advance of the army under Colonel Bouquet, 
consisting of about 2,000 men, had by this time 
opened the road to a point beyond Laurel Hill, and 
was within about lif ty miles of Fort Duquesne. Learn- 
ing of the smallness of the force there. Bouquet, who 
was a vain fellow, sent forward, without the order 
or knowledge of Forbes, a force of eight hundred 
men, among them a company of Virginians under 
Major Lewis, the whole under command of Major 
Grant, to reconnoiter the country in the neighborhood 
of the fort, and to ascertain the strength and posi- 
tion of the enemy. Grant conducted the enterprise 
with the foolhardiness of a man eager for personal 
notoriety. His whole object seems to have been to 
provoke an attack. The French, who had been rein- 
forced, were apprised, through their scouts, of his 
approacli, but suffered him to advance unmolested. 
Arriving at midnight. Grant posted his men on a hill, 
which to this day bears his name, and sent out a party 
of men to set fire to a log house near the fort. As 
if this were not enough to put the French on the 
alert, he had his drums beat loudly in the morning, 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. Yl 

and marshalling his regulars in battle array, sent an 
engineer, with a covering party, to take a plan of the 
works, in full view of the garrison. A large body of 
French and Indians now rushed out of the fort, under 
the gallant Aubrey, and attacked Grants troops in front, 
while other Indians in ambush attacked his flanks. A 
scene now ensued similar to that of the defeat of 
Braddock. Again the regulars gave way, with tlie 
loss of nearly three hundred men, and again the Vir- 
ginians saved the detachment from utter ruin. Lewis 
fought hand-to-hand with an Indian, whom he laid 
dead at his feet, but was, with Major Grant, forced to 
surrender. Oat of eight Yirginia officers, five were 
killed, a sixth wounded, and a seventh (Major Lewis) 
taken prisoner. Captain Bullitt, who saved the rem- 
nant of the detachment, was the only officer who es- 
caped unhurt. Out of 166 Virginians engaged in the 
affair, sixty-two were killed on the spot. 

Washington, to whose Regiment they belonged 
and who was at Raystown when the disastrous news 
was received, was publicly complimented by General 
Forbes on the gallant conduct of his men. Bullitt's 
behavior was publicly extolled, and he was soon after- 
ward rewarded with a major's commission. 

As a farther marlv of the high opinion now enter- 
tained of the provincial troops, they were formed into 
a Division, under Washington's command, and sent to 
the front. 

The entire army reached the camp at Loyal Llanna, 
through a road said to l)e indescribably ])ad, and 



72 GP:0RGE WASHINGTON. 

there, as had been predicted, a council of war deter- 
mined that it was unadvisable to proceed further this 
campaign. Fifty miles of a wilderness, through 
wliich there was no I'oad, still separated them from 
Fort Duquesne. But it would have been almost im- 
possible to have wintered an army in that position. 
They must have retreated from the cold, inhospitable, 
mountain forest, into which they had penetrated, or 
have suffered immensely. Fortunately, some priso- 
ners, brought in about this time, informed them of the 
extreme distress of Ft. Duquesne. The garrison was 
weak, in great want of provisions, and had been 
deserted by the Indians. These encouraging circum- 
stances changed the resolution which had been taken, 
and the march was accordingly resumed. 

Colonel Washington was advanced in front; and 
with infinite labor opened the way for the main body 
of the Army. Moving forward with slow and painful 
steps over a road, which was white with the bones of 
those who had been killed in Grant's late unfortunate 
movement or had died on the retreat, and of the 
slain in Braddock's defeat, they cautiously drew near 
the Fort expecting a vigorous defence. But the 
French had evacuated it the evening l)efore, and 
setting it on fire, had gone down the Ohio in 
boats. 

The recent successes of the English in Canada, par- 
ticularly the capture and destruction of Fort Fronte- 
nac, had left the garrison without hope of reinforce- 
ments or supplies. Its whole force did not, at the 



GEoKGK WASHINGTON. Y3 

time, exceed five hundred, and their provisions were 
nearly exhausted. 

On the 25th of November (1758) Washington, with 
the advance of the Army, marched in, and phinted 
the British Flag on the yet smoking ruins. The Fort 
was repaired, and garrisoned hy two hundred men of 
Washington's own Regiment. Its name was changed 
to Fort Pitt, in lionor of the great minister, whose 
miparalleled vigor and talents had given force and 
effect to the campaign. America afterwards raised 
to him statues that have been wrongfully broken; 
and erected granite monuments, of which not one 
stone remains upon another; l)ut so long as the 
Monongahela and the Alleghany shall flow together 
and form the Ohio, and hold in their beneficent 
arms the great City which has grown up in their em- 
brace, so long as the English tongue shall be the lan- 
guage of freedom in the boundless valley which their 
waters traverse, so long will his name stand inscribed 
on the Gateway to the West. 

Colonel Washington now marched back to Win- 
chester wdtli his command ; and soon afterwards pro- 
ceeded to Williamsburg to take his seat in the General 
Assembly, of which he had been elected a Member 
for the County of Frederick, while stationed at Fort 
Cumberland. 

The removal of the French from the Ohio having 
put an end to Indian hostilities and relieved Yirginia 
from all apprehension of their savage incursions, the 
object for which alone Washington had continued in 



74: Q-EORGE WASHINGTON. 

the service, was accomplished. His health, too, was 
much impaired, and his domestic affairs were in urgent 
need of his attention. 

Impelled by these, and other motives of a private 
nature, he determined to withdraw from a service 
which he could now quit without dishonor; and ac- 
cordmgly towards the close of the year (1758) he 
resigned his commission as Colonel of the 1st Virginia 
Hegiment, and Commander-in-Cliief of all the troops 
of that Colony. On the last day of the year " the 
affectionate" officers whom he had commanded ex- 
pressed witli " sincerity and openness of soul " their 
grief at losing a leader who had always shown " a quick 
discernment and invariable regard for merit, an earn- 
estness to inculcate genuine sentiments of true honor 
and passion for glory," whose example inspired 
" alacrity and cheerfulness in encountering the severest 
toils," and whose zeal for strict discipline and order 
gave to his troops a superiority which both regulars 
and provincials publicly acknowledged." 

In the Virginia House of Burgesses, the Speaker 
(Robinson) obeying the resolve of the House, publicly 
gave him the thanks of Virginia for his services to his 
Country. When the young man, taken by surprise, 
hesitated for words wherewith to reply, " Sit down," 
said the Speaker, "your modesty is equal to your 
valor, and that surpasses the power of any language I 
possess." 



CHAPTER X. 

FRANCE LOSES HER AMERICAN POSSESSIONS. 

Before following Washington into his retirement, 
and telling the story of his new life at Mount Yernon, 
it wdll be w^ell to glance at the concluding events of 
that great war, wherein he struck the first blow^, and 
in which he was taught the lessons that prepared him 
for his great career : and which ^vrought, too, those 
mighty changes, out of w^hich, under the his wise guid- 
ance the United States arose. 

Major-General Amherst had succeeded Abercrombie 
as Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in North 
America. For the Campaign of 1759 he planned 
three Expeditions, of which one, under the command 
of Wolfe, was to ascend the St. Lawrence, and lay 
siege to Quebec, the Capital of Canada ; a second, un- 
der General Prideaux, was to take Fort Niagara, and 
then to descend the St. Lawrence, capture Montreal, 
and hasten on to Quebec. The third, under Am- 
herst himself, was to advance by Lake George against 
Ticonderoga and Crown Point, reduce those forts, 
cross Lake Champlain, and push on to Quebec, where 
the whole army was to be ultimately concentrated. 

General Prideaux, accompanied by Sir William 

75 



76 GIORGE WASHINGTON. 

Johnson and a large body of Indians, laid siege to 
Fort Niagara. He was killed, by the bursting of a 
cohorn, in his own trenches, on the 20th of July, and 
Brigadier-General Gage, who had led Braddock's ad- 
vance, was ordered to take the command. Before he 
reached the army, however. Sir William Johnson, who 
was meanwhile in command, routed a large force of 
French and Indians, wliich was hastening to the relief 
of the Fort, and on the next day (July 25, 1759) cap- 
tured it with its garrison of about 600 men. Thus did 
New York extend her limits to the Niagara Kiver and 
Lake Erie. 

Meantime Amherst assembled his army on Lake 
George, and with nearly twelve thousand men ad- 
vanced on Ticonderoga and Crown Point. At the 
approach of this overwhelming force the French aban- 
doned both of those forts. They had only about four 
hundred men. Instead of following them up, Amherst 
wasted all August, all September, and ten days of Oc- 
tober, in building fortifications at Crown Point, and 
in repairing Ticonderoga, while Wolfe lay waiting for 
him before Quebec. 

He, with his eight thousand men, had ascended the 
St. Lawrence in June. With him were Colonel Guy 
Carleton and Lieutenant-Colonel William Howe, both 
destined to celebrity, in after years, in the annals of 
tlie American Pevolution. Among the officers of the 
fleet was Jervis, the future Admiral, and famous Earl 
St. Yincent. And the Master of one of the ships was 
James Cook, the great Navigator, who afterwards ex- 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 77 

plored and ]-evealed the unknown paths and thousand 
isles of the Pacific. 

The brio^ades had for their commanders the l)rave, 
open-hearted, and liberal Kobert Monckton, after- 
wards Governor of Kew York, George Townshend 
and James Murray. 

On the 27th of June (1759) the whole force disem- 
barked on the Isle of Orleans. A little way off the 
seemingly impregnable Cliff of Quebec was seen dis- 
tinctly, rising precipitously in the midst of one of the 
grandest scenes in JSTature. To protect this Citadel of 
New France, Montcalm liad only six wasted battalions 
of regular troops, a few Indian warriors, and the Cana- 
dian Militia; the hitter gave him the superiority in 
numl)ers, but he put his chief confidence in the natural 
strength of tlie Country. 

Of the movements of the opposing forces during 
the next ten weeks; of the untiring zeal with which 
Wolfe sought his foe; of tlie patient courage with 
w^hi(;h Montcalm baffled him continually; of the Eng- 
lish defeat at the Falls of Montmorenci ; and of the 
skill, the daring, and the invincible pluck with which 
Wolfe at last planted liimself upon the plains of 
Abraham; and of all that was done in those eventful 
days, this is not the place to write. 

The two armies stood face to face on those high 
plains, in numbers not unequal. When at last, Mont- 
calm saw that the moment for decisive action had 
come, he led the French impetuously to the attack. 
Then came the shock of battle. Wolfe was wounded 



78 GEORGE WASill^'GTOJSr. 

in the wrist ; still pressing forward, he received a 
second ball ; and then was struck a third time, and 
mortal!}', in the breast. "Support me," he cried, '-let 
not my l)rave fellows see me drop." He was carried 
to the rear, and they brought him water to quench his 
tliirst. " Tliey run ; they run," said the officer on 
whom lie leaned. " Wlio run? "asked Wolfe as life 
fast ebbed away. "The French." " What ? Do they 
run already ? Go, one of you, to Colonel Eurton and bkl 
him march Webb's regiment with all speed to Charles 
Eiver to cut off the fugitives. l!^ ow God be praised ! 
I die happy." These were his dying words. Night, 
silence, the rushing tide, veteran discipline, and the sure 
inspiration of genius, had been his allies ; his battle- 
field, high over the Ocean-river, was the grandest the- 
atre on earth for illustrious deeds ; his victory, one of 
the most momentous in the annals of mankind, gave 
to the English tongue and to the institutions of the 
Anglo-Saxon race the unexplored, and seemingly in- 
finite, ]^orth and West. He crowded into a few hours 
actions wliich would have given lustre to length of 
life ; and, filling his day with greatness, completp.d it 
before its noon. 

The hope of New France was also gone. Born and 
educated in camps, Montcalm had been carefully in- 
structed, and w^as skilled in the language of Homer, 
as well as in the art of war. Greatly laborious, just, 
disinterested, hopeful even to rashness, sagacious in 
council, swift in action, his mind was a well-spring of 
bold designs; his career in Canada a wonderful strug- 



aEORGE WASHINGTON. 'TO 

gle against inexorable destiny. Sustaining hunger and 
cold, vigils and incessant toil, anxious for his soldiers, 
unmindful of himself, he set, ev( n to tlie forest-trained 
red men, an example of self-denial and endurance ; and 
in the midst of corruption made the pul)lic good his 
aim. But the hour of defeat and death had come at 
last. Struck by a musket ball, he continued to fight 
till he was mortally wounded by a second. On hear- 
ing that death was inevitable, " I am glad of it,*' he 
cried. " How long shall I live ? " " Ten or twelve 
hours, perhaps less." " So much the better ; I shall 
not live to see the surrender of Quebec. To your 
keeping," said he to de Eamsay, " I commend the 
honor of France. As for me, I shall pass the night 
with God, and prepare myself for death." Having 
written a letter commending the French prisoners to 
the generosity of tlie English, his last hours were given 
to the hope of an endless life, and at five the next morn- 
ing (Sept. 15,1759) he expired. On the 17th Quebec 
capitulated. 

America rang with exultation ; the towns were 
])right with illuminations, the hills with bonfires ; pro- 
vinces and families gave thanks to God. When the 
Parliament assembled, Pitt modestly put aside the 
praises which were showered on him. " The more a 
man is versed in business," said he, " the more he finds 
the hand of Providence everywhere." 

Had Amherst followed up his success at Ticon- 
deroga the preceding summei*, the year's campaign 
would have ended, as had been projected, in the sub- 



80 GEORGE WASHINGTOK. 

jiigation of Canada. His delay gave the French time 
to make another struggle for the salvation of the 
Province. 

But the inevitable end was reached on the 8th of 
Septeml)er 1760, when Yaudreuil, in command at 
Montreal, thi*eatened by an army of nearly ten thous- 
and Englisli and a host of Indians under Amherst 
and Sir William Johnson, surrendered that post and 
all Canada. 

Thus ended the contest between France and England 
for dominion in America. A far-seeing French states- 
man, the Count de Yergennes, predicted that England's 
triumph would not be lasting ; that the expulsion of 
the French from America would remove the only 
check which kept the English colonies in awe, and 
made them feel the need of protection : and that when 
called upon l)y the Mother Country to contribute to- 
wards supporting the burdens which the war had 
brought upon her, they would answer by declaring 
and establishing their independence. 



CHAPTER XI. 

WASHINGTON FALLS IN LOVE AND GETS MARRIED. 

While Forbes was concentrating his forces at Cum- 
berlan<i, and making ready for the niarcli upon Fort 
Dnqnesne, Colonel Washington, whose men were in 
want of arms, tents, field eqnipage, and almost every- 
thing, was ordered to repair to Williamshnrg, and lay 
the matter before the Councdl. He sat off promptly 
on horse-l)ack, attended l)y Bishop, a well trained mili- 
tary servant who had been with General Braddock. 

In crossing a ferry over the Pamnnkey, an affluent 
of York River, he fell in company with a Mr. Cham- 
berlayne, who lived in the neighborhood, and wlio, in 
the spirit of Yirginij^ hospitality, claimed liim as a 
guest. It was with difficulty tliat AVashington could 
be prevailed upon to halt for dinner, so impatient was 
he to reach Williamsburg and accomplish his mission. 

Among the guests at Mr. Chamberlayne's was a 
young and Idooming widow, Mrs. Martha Custis, 
daughter of Mr. John Dandridge. Her husband, Jolm 
Parke Custis, liad died about three years before, leav- 
ing her with two young children, and a large foi-tune. 
She is said to have been ratlier below tlie middle size, 

but exquisitelv formed, with an agreeable countenance, 

81 



82 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

dark eyes, and hair, and those frank and engaging 
manners, which are the charm of Southern women. 

Whether Washington had met her previously is not 
known. At any rate the dinner, which was in those days 
a midday meal, was not concluded, before his suscepti- 
ble heart had been completely captured. ~ Bishop was 
punctual with the horses, but the lover still lingered 
by the side of the l)ewitching Avidow. The horses 
pawed impatiently before the gate; but, for once in 
his life, Washington loitered in the path of duty. Be- 
guiled ])y the cliarmer, he ordered them back to the 
stable ; forgot for a few hours the stern duties of war; 
and, in the deepening twilight of a Southern summer 
day, sat beside the woman he loved, and drank deeply 
of tlie sweetest and purest draught, which Nature pours 
out to her most favored children. 

The next morning Washington was in the saddle, 
spurring on to William sburgh. Happily for him the 
White House, her home, was not far from the City, 
and during his stay there, Wa^liington was her fre- 
quent visitor. His time for courtship was, however, 
l)rief . His duties called him back to the army. He 
pressed his wooing, and urged his suit to the utmost. 
The liigh-born, and fascinating widow, the mistress of 
many broad acres, and of many dusky slaves, was not 
unsought by others. Suitors crowded around her. But 
the stately grace of Washington, his grave dignity, 
and native manliness, and that renown which he had 
won in war, and which he wore so modestl}^, found 
favor in her sight, and overcame lier woman's heart, 



GP:0RGE WASHINGTON. 83 

and won her love ; and when he started off to the field 
of battle, they had mutually plighted their faith, and 
she had promised to become his wife, when he, having 
hoisted the British flag over the French Fort on the 
Ohio, should come back to the sunny Lowlands, and 
claim her as his bride. 

Hastening back to his troops at Winchester, Wash- 
ington, who had resolved to leave the army at the 
end of the Campaign in order to remain near the 
woman of his love and devotion, yielded to the 
solicitations of his friends, and offered himself to the 
voters of Frederick County as a candidate to represent 
them in the Yirginia House of Burgesses. The elec- 
tion was to take place at Winchester, whence he had 
meanwhile moved with his troops to Cumberland. He 
had three competitors, and Avas advised to return to 
Winchester to attend to it. His commanding officer 
gave him a leave of absence for the purpose ; but Wash- 
ington refused to absent himself from his post for the 
promotion of his personal interests. ISTor was it need- 
ful for him to do so. He was triumphantly elected. 

It has already been told tliat Washington took 
possession of Fort Duquesne on the 25th of Novem- 
ber 1758 ; and that, the frontiers of Yirginia having 
been thereby relieved from all danger of Indian incur- 
sions, he resigned his commission as Commander of 
the Yirginia Forces, and on the last day of the year, 
(1758) took leave of his oflicers. A few days after- 
wards, (Jan. 6, 1759) his marriage with Mrs. Custis 
was celebrated at her residence, " The White House/' 



84: GEORGE WASHI2<GTON. 

in the good old style of Virginia hospitality amid a 
joyful assemblage of relatives and friends. 

There they remained for the present, that he might 
attend the House of Burgesses, which was then in ses- 
sion. It was on the occasion of his taking his seat in 
that body for the first time, that the scene occurred, 
in which the Speaker commended his modesty as being 
equal to his valor. Upon the final adjournment of the 
Assembly he took his bride to their future home, 
Mount Yernon. 

Mr. Custis, her first husband, had left a large 
landed property and £45,000. One-third of all this 
fell to the widow, and the remainder to her two chil- 
dren, a boy and a girl. The whole was managed by 
Washington in the most faithful and judicious manner. 
He now gave himself np to the delights and duties of 
a country life. Throughout the whole course of his 
career, this was his heme ideal of existence. It haunted 
his thoughts even wlien he was in command of armies, 
and to it he returned always with unflagging interest. 
No impulse of ambition ever tempted him to leave 
its peaceful repose ; notliing but the call of his coun- 
try, and his devotion to the public good. Mount Ver- 
non was particularly dear to him. It had been the 
home of his brother, Lawrence. It was tliere that he 
had himself grown into early manhood, and it was in 
itself a charming home. The mausion was I)eautifully 
situated on a swelling height, crowned with wood, and 
commanding a magnificent view of the wide Potomac. 
The grounds were laid, out somewhat in the English 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 85 

style. Its fields and forests were all carefully looked 
after. The snrronnding country, with its range of 
woods, hills and picturesque promontories, was a nol)le 
hunting-ground. " Ko estate in United America," he 
observes in one of his letters, " is more pleasantly sit- 
uated. It is a high and healthy country, between the 
extremes of heat and cold, and on one of the finest 
rivers in the world. It is washed l)y more than ten miles 
of tide-water ; tlie whole shore is one entire fishery." 

These were as yet the aristocratical days of Vir- 
ginia. The estates were large, and continued in the 
same families by entails. Many of the wealthy fami- 
lies were connected with old families in England. 
The young men, especially the elder sons, were often 
sent there to complete their education, and on their 
return brought with them the tastes and habits of the 
Mother Country. The Governors of Virginia were 
from the higher ranks of society, and maintained a 
corresponding state. The Established, or Episco- 
pal, Church predominated ; each County was divided 
into parishes, as in England, each with its parish 
church, its parsonage, and glebe. Washington was 
vestry-man of two parishes ; the parish church of the 
one was at Alexandria, ten miles from Mount Ver- 
non ; of the other at Poliick, seven miles away. He 
always attended one or the other of these churches 
every Sunday, when the weather and roads permitted. 
During the prayers Mrs. Washington alwaj^s knelt, 
and he always stood, as was then the custom. They 
were both communicants. 



86 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

Among his occasional visitors were his old army 
friends, Captain Hugh Mercer and Dr. Craik. The 
former was living at Fredericksburg, the latter at 
Alexandria. 

A style of living prevailed among the opulent Vir- 
ginia families of those days, which has long faded 
away. Their houses were capacious, liberal in all 
their appointments, and fitted for the free-handed, 
open-hearted, hospitality of their owners. Eich ser- 
vices of plate, elegant equipages, and superb carriage- 
horses — all brought from England — were everywhere 
to be seen. The rich planters vied with each other in 
their studs, importing the best English stocks. One 
of the Randolphs of Tackahoe built a stable for his 
favorite dapple-gray, Shaksjyeare, with a recess for the 
bed of the regro groom, who always attended him, 
and slept by him at night. 

Washington, whose own considerable fortune had 
been increased more than one hundred thousand dol- 
lars by his marriage, could well live in ample and dig- 
nified style. His intimacy with the Fairfaxes and his 
intercourse with British officers of rank perhaps in- 
fluenced his mode of living. He had his chariot and 
four, with black postillions in livery for the use of 
Mrs. Washington and her guests. As for himself, he 
always appeared on horseback. His stables were well 
filled, and aduiirably regulated. His stud was thor- 
oughbred. 

In those days a large Virginia estate was a little 
empire. The mansion-honse was the seat of govern- 



aEOKG-E WASHINGTON. 87 

ment, with its numerous dependencies, such as kitch- 
ens, smoke-house, workshops and stal)les. In this 
mansion the planter ruled supreme ; hi« steward, or 
overseer, was his prime minister and executive officer ; 
he had his legion of house-servants, and his host of 
field negroes, for the culture of tobacco, Indian corn, 
and other crops, and for out-door labor. Their quar- 
ters formed a kind of village, composed of various 
cabins or huts, with little gardens, and chicken-yards, 
and patches of field, and swarms of little negroes 
o;ambolliuo; around. Then there were larire tobacco- 
houses, and mills for grinding wheat and Indian corn. 

Amono; the slaves were artificer ^ of all kinds — tail- 
ors, shoemakers, carpenters, blacksmiths, wheelwrights, 
etc., so that a plantation produc d within itself every- 
thing for ordinary use. Articles of fashion and ele- 
gance, and luxurious and expensive clothing were im- 
ported from London ; for the planters along the rivers, 
especially the Potomac, traded directly v.ith England. 
Their tobacco was put up 1)y their own negroes, bore 
their own marks, and was shipped from their own 
wharves to some agent in Liverpool or Bristol, with 
whom the planter kept an account. 

Unlike most Virginia planters, Washington super- 
vised, directed and managed his own affairs, kept his 
own accounts, posted up his books, and balanced them 
with mercantile exactness. The products of his estate 
became so noted for the faithfulness as to quantity 
and quality with which they were put up, that it is 
said that any barrel of flour which bore the brand of 



88 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

George Washington^ Mount Vernon^ was exempted 
from the customary inspection in the West India 
ports. 

He was an early riser, often getting up before break 
of day, in winter. On such occasions he lit his own 
fire, and read or wrote by candle-light. He break- 
fasted at T in summer, and at 8 in winter. Two small 
cups of tea and two or three hoe-cakes constituted his 
meal. Immediately after breakfast he rode over those 
parts of his estate where any work was going on, and 
gave his orders for the day. 

Dinner was served at two o'clock. He ate heartily, 
but was no epicure, nor critical about his food. His 
beverage was cider or beer, and two glasses of old 
Madeira. He took tea, of which he was very fond, 
early in the evening, and retired for the night about 
9 o'clock. 

He treated his negroes with great kindness, attend- 
ed to their comforts, and was particularly careful of 
them in sickness; but never tolerated idleness, and ex- 
acted a faithful performance of all their tasks. He 
had a quick eye, too, at calculating a man's capabili- 
ties. 

He delighted in the chase. In the hunting season, 
when he rode out early in the morning to visit distant 
parts of the estate, he often took his dogs with him, 
for the chance of starting a fox, which he occasionally 
did, but he was not always successful in killing 
him. He was a bold rider and an admirable horseman, 
though he never pretended to be an accomplished fox- 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 89 

hunter. In the height of the season, however, he 
would be out with the fox-hounds two or three times a 
week, accompanied by his guests at Mount Yernon, 
and the gentlemen of the neighborhood, especially the 
Fairfaxes of Bel voir, of wliich estate his friend George 
William Fairfax was still the proprietor. On such 
occasions there would be a hunting dinner, at which 
Washington is said to have always enjoyed himself 
with great hilarity. Now and then old Lord Fairfax 
would make a visit to Belvoir, and then the hunting 
was kept up with amazing spirit. 

The okl Lord lived very constantly, however, at 
Greenway Court, and was a great favorite in that re- 
mote County. As lord-lieutenant of the County, and 
ciistos Totuloriiin^ he presided over the County Court, 
which was held at Winchester. He was also overseer 
of the public roads, and was unwearied in working for 
the improvement of the County. Hunting was, how- 
ever, his passion. When the sport was poor near 
home, he would take his hounds to a d'stant part of 
the country, establish himself at an inn, and keep 
open house, and open table to every person of good 
character and respectable appearance, who chose to 
join him in following the hounds. Sometimes it was 
in quest of sport of this kind that lie now and then 
revisited the Potomac, and then the beautiful wood- 
land region al>out Belvoir and Mount Yernon was 
sure to ring, at early morn, with the inspiring music 
of the hound. 

The Pot(jmac, in tlie palmy days of Yirginia, was 



90 GKORGK WASHINGTON. 

occasionally the scene of a little aquatic state and 
ostentation among the rich planters, who resided on 
its banks. The j had beautiful barges, which, like 
their land equipages, were imported from England ; 
and mention is made of a Mr. Digges, who always re- 
ceived Washington in a barge rowed by six negroes, 
arrayed in a kind of uniform of check-shirts, and 
black velvet caps. At one time, according to notes in 
Washington's diary, the whole neighborhood was 
thrown into a ] aroxysm of festivity by the anchoring of 
a British frigate in the river, just in front of Belvoii*. 
There were dinners and breakfasts at Mount Yernon, 
and at Belvoir, and tea parties on the frigate, and the 
greatest gaiety everywhere. 

Occasionally he and Mrs. Washington would go to 
Annapolis, while the Maryland Assembly was in ses- 
sion. The society of the capitals of the Provmces 
was always polite and fashionable, and more exclusive 
then, than in these Bepublican days; being, in a 
manner, the outposts of the English aristocracy, where 
all places of dignity or profit were secured for younger 
sons and poor but proud relatives. Dinners and balls 
abounded, and there were occasional theatricals, an 
amusement of which Washington was particularly 
fond. He was somewhat given to dancing — but is 
said to have been rather grave and ceremonious. 



CHAPTER XII. 



ENGLISH OPPRESSION. 



In this round of rural occupations, and amusements, 
and social intercourse, Washington passed several tran- 
quil years. He was not, however, altogether withdrawn 
from public pursuit and duties. As a member of the 
County Court, and of the House of Burgesses, he had 
numerous calls upon his time and thoughts. He also 
took a personal interest in a project to drain the great 
Dismal Swamp, and make it lit for cultivation. AVith 
his usual zeal and hardihood he explored it on horse- 
back, and on foot, and made a report, which led to the 
organization of the Dismal Swamp Company, which, 
in accordance with his observations and plans, has 
since converted that then desolate region into produc- 
tive fields. 

Other pu1)lic matters of far greater importance than 
these were now taking a course, which was destined 
gradually to bear him away from his quiet home, and 
launch him on his great career. 

At no period -of time was the attachment of the col- 
onists to the mother country more strong or more gen- 
eral than in 1763, when the defenitive Treaty of Peace 
between Great Britain, France and Spain was signed. 

The war, which it concluded, had deeply interested 

91 



92 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

every part of America. Every colony had been en- 
gaged in it ; every colony had felt its ravages. The 
part taken in it ])y the Indians had greatly increased 
its horrors, and had added to the joy which was pro- 
duced by its termination. The union of that vast tract 
of country which extends from the Atlantic to the 
Mississippi and from the Gulf of Mexico to the Artie 
Circle, was also believed to be a guarantee of future 
peace, and an effectual security against the horrors of 
civilized, as well as savage, warfare. 

This state of things had been brought about by the 
union of British and American valor. English and 
Americans had co-operated in the same service, their 
blood had mingled in the same fields, and they had 
pursued a common ol)ject, for the good of both. 

While the British Nation was endeared to the 
American heart by this community of danger and 
identity of interest, tlie brilliant achievements of the 
war had exalted to enthusiasm the admiration which 
the Colonists felt for British valor. They were proud of 
the land of their ancestors, and of the fact that they 
were themselves the sons of Englishmen. They ad- 
mired, with fervor, the political institutions of the 
Mother Country. And the excellence of the English 
Constitution was the constant theme of their declama- 
tion. They, at the same time, jealously insisted \\\)on 
their own right to tlie enjoyment of its advantages, 
and could not achnit that, l)y crossing the Atlantic, 
their ancestors had relinquished tlie essential rights of 
British subjects. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 93 

The degree of authority which Parliament might 
rightfully exercise over the colonies had never been 
accurately defined. In England it had always been 
asserted that it might bind them in all cases whatso- 
ever. In America, at different times, and in different 
colonies, various opinions had been entertained on this 
subject. 

In New England, (originally settled by Kepublicans, 
and the favorite, during the Commonwealth, of the 
English Nation,) habits of independence had nourished 
the theoi-y that the Colonial Legislatures possessed all 
the powers of legislation whicli had not been surrender- 
ed l)y compact ; that they were themselves subjects of 
the British Crown, but not of the British Nation ; and 
that they were not bound 1)y any law to which they 
had not assented. From this high ground they had, 
it is true, been compelled reluctantly to recede ; but 
the doctrine was still extensively maintained that Par- 
liament had no riglit, or power, to regulate the internal 
affairs of the Colonies. 

In the Middle and Southern provinces no question 
respecting tlie supremacy of Pai'liament in matters of 
general legislation had ever existed. But even these 
Colonies, howe\er they might acknowledge the su- 
premacy of Parliament in other respects, denied the 
right of that body to tax them internally, without 
their consent. 

A scheme for taxing the Colonies by authority of 
Pailiament had been formed as early as 1739, l)ut had 
not l)een countenanced by the then pi-inie niiui.-tci' of 



94 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

England, Sir Kobert Walpole. " It must be a bolder 
man than myself," he replied when that suggestion 
was made to him, " and one less friendly to commerce, 
who will ventm'e on such an expedient." For his part 
he would encourage the trade of the colonies to the 
utmost ; one-half of the profits would be sure to come 
into the Koyal Exchequer through the increased de- 
mand for British manufactures. "This," said he, 
sagaciously, " is taxing them more agreeably to their 
own Constitutions and laws." 

This scheme was not again taken up until 1754, when 
a Avar, in which every part of the Empire was deeply 
concerned, was about to begin. Some of the Colonies 
tliemselves appear to have then Vvdshed for the adop- 
tion of some mode for combining their exertions, and 
for equitably apportioning the expenses of the comm^on 
cause. The Government according!}^ devised a plan 
for taxing the Colonies. The temper and opinions 
of tlie Colonists were, however, so manifestly against 
the execution of the plan, that the Ministry in 
view of the impolicy of irritating them in the midst of 
a great war, and when their willing co-operation was 
absolutely required, suspended all action for the time. 

Of the right of Parliament, as the supreme author- 
ity of the Nation, to tax as well as to govern the 
Colonies, those who guided the Councils of Great 
Britain seem, however, never to have entertained a 
doubt. 

This total opposition of opinion between England 
and America on that subject which most interests the 



GEORGE WASHINGTON^. 96 

human heart was now about to produce a system of 
measures which tore asunder all the bonds of relation- 
ship and affection, which had subsisted for ages, and 
planted the deepest hatred in bosoms, w^here the warm- 
est friendship had been long cultivated. The unex- 
ampled expenses of the war rendered unavoidable a 
great addition to the regular and usual taxes of Great 
Britain ; and great difficulty was experienced in search- 
ing out new sources of revenue. In its embarrassment 
the Ministry turned to the Colonies, and, upon its sug- 
gestion, Parliament passed, (1764), without much de- 
bate, a resolution that it would be proper to impose 
certain Stamp duties in tlie Colonies and Plantations, 
for the purpose of raising a revenue in America, pay- 
able into the British Exchequer; and the Ministry 
gave notice, that it would introduce such a measure 
at the ensuing session of Parliament. 

In the meantime that body perpetuated certain 
duties on sugar and molasses (heretofore subjects of 
complaint and opposition), and imposed duties on 
other articles imported into the Colonies. To recon- 
cile the latter to these measures, it was stated that the 
revenue to be thus raised was to l)e appropriated to 
their protection and security. It w^as really intended 
for the support of a Standing Army, which was to be 
quartered upon them. 

Whatever might have been the fate of the com- 
mercial regulations, tlie resolution concerning the 
duties on Stamps excited a great and general ferment 
in Amej-ica. The i-ight of Parliament to impose taxes 



96 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

on the colonies became the subject of universal con- 
versation aad was almost universally denied. Petitions 
to tlie King, and memorials to both Houses of Parlia- 
n.eiit against the measure were transmitted by several 
of the provincial Assemblies to the Board of Trade in 
England, to be presented immediately to his Majesty, 
and to Parliament when it should meet. Massa- 
chusetts instructed her agent in London to use his 
utmost endeavors to obtain a repeal of the acts laying 
duties, and to prevent the passage of the Stamp Act, 
or any other Act laying taxes upon t!;e American 
Provinces. A Committee was, also, appointed to cor- 
respond with the Legislatures of the other Colonies, 
and to solicit their concurrence in the measures which 
she had adopted. 

The Legislatures of Virginia, Rhode Island, New 
York and North Carolina seconded Massachusetts; 
and Franklin appeared in London at the head of 
agents from Pennsylvania, Connecticut and South 
Carolina to deprecate in person measures so fraught 
with mischief ; and, at the same time, associations were 
formed to abstain from the use of such British manu- 
factured goods as were not indispensable. 

Perceiving the opposition which would be encountered 
by adhering to the vote of the last session, the Ministry 
informed the agents of the Colonies, in London, that 
if they would propose any other mode of raising the 
sum required, their proposition would be accepted, and 
the Stamp Duty laid aside. The agents replied that 
they Avere not authorized to propose any substitute, 



u:j!JilG-E WASHIiS'G-TON. 97 

but were oraered to oppose any bill which should as- 
sume to tax the Colonies without their consent. This 
reply j)laced the controversy on ground which seemed 
to admit of no compromise ; and Grenville, believing 
biiccessful resistance to be absolutely impossible, 
brought into Parliament his celebrated Act for impos- 
ing Stamp Duties in America. It passed both Houses 
by very great majorities, but not without animated de- 
bate (1765). General Conway, alone, had the courage 
to stem tlie torrent of public opinion and with mag- 
nanimous iirmnesri to pi-otest against their riglit to give 
away the money of tho&o who were not represented in 
that Body. One particular passage in the debate stands 
out in I'elief from the rest, and has found a place in every 
American History. Mr. Grenville had concluded a long 
argument in favor of the bill with these w^ords: 
'' Will these American children, planted by our care, 
nourished by our indulgence to a degree of strength 
and opulence, and protected by our arms, grudge to 
contribute their mite to relieve us from tlie heavy bur- 
den under which we lie ? " In answer to which obser- 
vation, Colonel Barre, who, having served in Ameri- 
ca, claimed to speak of the Colonists from personal 
knowledge, indignantly and eloquently exclaimed, 
'' Children planted hy your care ! No ! Your oppres- 
sion planted them in America. They fled from your 
tyranny into a then uncultivated land, wliere they 
were exposed to all the hardships to which human 
nature is liable, and among others to the savage cruel- 
ty of an enemy the most subtle and the most terrible 



98 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

that ever inhabited any part of Gud's Earth. * * 
Jliey nourished hy your uidulgencel No! They 
grew by your neglect. When you began to care 
about them, that care was exercised in sending persons 
to rule over them, * * to spy out their liberty, to mis- 
represent their actions, and to prey upon them — men 
whose behavior has caused the blood of those sons of 
Liberty to recoil within them ; men promoted to the 
liighest seats of justice, some of whom were glad, by 
going to a foreign country, to escape being brought to 
the bar of justice in their own. They j^^'otected hy 
your arms ! They have nobly taken up arms in your 
defence, have exerted their valor amidst their constant 
and laborious industry for the defence of a country, 
the interior of which, while its frontiers were drenched 
in blood, has yielded all its little savings to your en- 
largement. * * * The people there are as truly 
loyal, I believe, as any subjects the King has; but 
they are a people jealous of their liberties, and will 
vindicate them if they should be violated." 

By this Act all instruments in writing were to be 
executed on stamped paper, to be purchased from the 
ao-ents of the British Government. What was worse, 
all offences against the Act could be tried in any 
"Royal, Marine, or Admiralty, Court throughout the 
Colonies, however distant from the place where the 
offence had been committed ; thus interfering with 
that inestimable right of freemen — a trial by jury. 

The passage of the Act, which was to go into oper- 
ation in November (1765), excited throughout the 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 99 

Colonies the most serious alarm and universal indiirna- 
tion. In some places the bells were tolled, Und flags 
were displayed at half-mast, to denote the feeling of 
the Community. It was sincerely believed to wound 
vitally the Constitution of the Country ; and to de- 
stroy the most sacred principles of liberty. Combina- 
tions against its execution were every where formed, 
and the utmost exertions were used to diffuse through 
the press, as extensively as possible, a knowledge of 
the pernicious consequences which must flow from ad- 
mitting that America could be taxed by a Legislature 
in which slie was not represented. 

The Legislature of Virginia happened to be in ses- 
sion when the passage of the Act was first announced, 
and then it was that Patrick Henry, a young and 
almost self-educated orator, electrified his brother 
members by the boldness of the Resolutions which he 
brought forward, in support of Colonial Eights, and 
the yet greater boldness with '\vhich he supported 
them. One of these Resolutions asserted the exclusive 
right of the Colonial Asseml)ly to laj^ taxes and im- 
positions on the inhabitants of that Colony, and that 
any attempt to vest such a power elsewhere " is illegal, 
unconstitutional, and unjust, and has a manifest tend- 
ency to destroy British as well as American freedom." 

It was in the course of the impassioned speech 
which he made in defence of these declarations that 
Henry uttered the memorable defiance — " Caesar had 
his Brutus ; Charles the First his Cromwell ; and 
George the Third " — here the cry of " Treason ! Trea- 



100 OEORGE WASHINQ-TOH. 

son ! " resounded on all sides — " may profit bj their 
example," said the self-possessed orator, completing 
his sentence. " If this be treason, make the most of 
it." 

Among those who listened to this fiery outburst 
was George Washington, tlien a member of the House 
of Burgesses. What his opinions on these questions 
had previously been, we have no means of knowing. 
His correspondence hitherto had not turned on politi- 
cal, or speculative, themes, being engrossed l)y either 
military or agricultural matters, and evincing little an- 
ticipation of the vortex of public duties into which he 
was about to be drawn. All his previous conduct and 
writings show a loyal devotion to th > (^rown, with a 
patriotic attachment to his country. Till now, he had 
been a loyal British subject, and a thorough Virginian. 

Patrick Henry's resolutions, after being slightly 
modified to accommodate them to tlie scruples of tlie 
Speaker and some of the Members, were adopted. Tlie 
Lieutenant-Governor of the colony, Lord Fauquier, 
startled by this patriotic outbreak, dissolved the xVs- 
sembly, and writs for new elections were issued. But 
the clarion had sounded, and so entirely did the peo- 
ple concur in the Resolutions that hardly any member 
who had opposed them was re-elected. 

Washington, after the dissolution of the Assembly 
returned to Moui^. Ycrnoi-i, full of anxious tlioughts 
inspired by the political situation, and the scenes 
which he had witnessed in the House of Bui-gesses. 
II is recent letters had spoken of the ])eacefnl tranquil- 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 101 

ity in which he was living. Those now written show 
that he participated fully in the popular feeling, jind 
that, while he comprehended the arduous struggle 
which was approaching, his patriotic mind was study- 
ing how to prepare for it. In a letter to his wife's 
uncle, Francis Dandridge, then in London, he says: 
" The Stamp Act engrosses the conversation of the 
speculative part of the Colonists, who look upon this 
unconstitutional method of taxation, as a direful attack 
upon their liberties, and loudly exclaim against the vio- 
lation. What may he tlie result of this and of some 
other (I think I ma}^ add ill-judged) measures, I will 
not undertake to determine ; but this I ma^ vsxiture to 
affirm that the advantage accuring to the Mother 
Country, will fall greatly short of the expectation of 
the Ministry — for certain it is that our whole su])?tance 
already in a jnanner flows to Great Britain, and that 
whatsoever constitutes to lessen our imporiations 
must be hurtful to her manufactures. The eyes of 
our people already begin to be opened, and they will 
perceive that many luxuries, for which we lavish our 
substance on Great Britain, can well be dispensed 
with. This, consequently, will introduce frugality, and 
be a necessary incitement to industry. * * As to 
the Stamp Act, regarded in a single view, one of the 
first bad consequences attending it is, that our Courts 
of Judicature must inevitably be shut up ; for it is im- 
possible, next to impossible, or under present circum- 
stances, that the Act of Parliament could be complied 
with, were we ever so willing to enforce its execution. 



102 GEORftE WASHINGTON. 

And not to saj (which alone would be sufficient) that 
we have not money enough to pay for the stamps, 
there are many other cogent reasons, which prove that 
it would be ineffectual." 

A letter of the same date to his agents in London, 
shows that while deeply interested in the course of 
public affairs he did not neglect his own personal 
affairs — nor the interests confided to him. Indeed all 
his letters respecting his shipments of tobacco, and the 
returns required in various articles of household and 
personal use, are perfect models for a man of business. 
And this may be remarked throughout his whole 
career, that no pressure of events:-, nor multiplicity of 
cares, prevented a clear, steadfast undercurrent of at- 
tention to domestic affairs, and to the iuterest and 
well-being of all dependent upon him. In the mean- 
time from his quiet abode at Mount Yernon, he seem- 
ed to hear the voice of Patrick Henry echoing 
throughout the land, and raising one Legislative body 
after another to follow the example of the Virginia 
House of Burgesses. 

At the instigation of Massachusetts, deputies of 
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsyl- 
vani", Maryland and South Carolina, JSTew York, 
New Jersey, and Delaware assembled at New York 
in October, and, after declaring the exclusive right 
of the Colonies to tax tliemselves, with equal temper 
and decision addressed the King, and each House 
of Parliament on the subject of their grievances. 
The Lee^islatures of Yiro;inia and North Carolina 



G-EORGE WASHINGTON. 103 

not being in session, no deputies from those States 
appeared in this Colonial Congress, but they each 
sent similar petitions to England. In the mean- 
time the papers teemed with the most anin»ating ex- 
hortations to the people to unite in the defense of 
their liberty and property, and the Stamp officers were 
almost universally compelled to resign. In Boston he 
was hanged in effigy ; his windows were broken ; and a 
house intended for his office was torn down, and his 
effigy burnt in a bonfire, made of tlie fragments. The 
Lieutenant Governor, Chief Justice, and Sheriff, at- 
tempting to allay the tumult, were pelted. The Stamp 
officer thouglit himself happy to be hanged only in 
effigy, and next day publicly renounced the dangerous 
office. In Virginia, Georg-*. Mercer publicly refused 
to serve. The bells were thereupon rung for joy, 
Williamsburg was illuminated, and Mercer was hailed 
with the acclamations of the people. 

Ou the first day of November, when the Act was to 
go in operation, there was great tolling of bells, and 
Inirning of effigies in the N w England Colonies. At 
Boston the ships displayed their flags at half-mast. 
Many shops were shut. Funeral kneUs resounded 
from the steeples, and there was a great auto-du-fe^ ir 
which the promoters of the Act were paraded, an'^ 
suffered martyrdom, in effigy. 

At New York the printed Act was carried about 
the streets on a pole, surmounted by a death's liead, 
with a scroll bearing the inscription: "The folly of 
England, and the ruin of America." The Governor 



104 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

Golden, fearing the Btorm, retreated into a fort, and 
garrisoned it with Marines. The mob broke into liis 
stable, drew out his chariot, put his effigy into it, and 
paraded it through the streets to tlie common, (now 
the Park), where they hung it on a gallows. In the 
evening it was taken down, put again into the chariot 
with the devil for a companion, and escorted by the 
light of torches to the Bowling Green, where the whole 
pageant, chariot and all, was burnt under the very 
guns of the Governor's Fort. 

These violences received no countenance from the 
leading members of society, who, however, endeavored 
to organize a systematic, and determined opposition to 
the policy of the British Government, and to interest 
the English people themselves on their side. To this 
end associatiop.s were formed in all the Colonies for 
the encom-agement of domestic manufactures, and 
against the use of those imported from England. To 
increase their quantity of wool, they determined to 
kill no lambs, and to u<e all the means in rheir power 
to multiply the flocks of sheep. As a security against 
the use of stamps, proceedings in tlie Court of Justice 
were suspended, and it was earnestly recommended to 
settle all disputes by arbitration. So effectual ^vas the 
opposition to the Stamp iVct, that there v.-as not a 
:tamp, nor a Stamp officer, to be found throughout the 
Colonies, on the day that it was to go into operation. 

While these transactions were taking place . m 
/xmerica, causes entirely unconnected with the affairs 
vC the Colonies produced a total revolution in the 



aEORGE WASHING-TON. 106 

British Cabinet. The Grenville party was succeeded 
by an administration opposed to taxing the Colonies 
without their consent, and, through the influence of 
Pitt, the Stamp Act was repealed (March 18, 1776). 
The repeal diffused joy ^nd exultation tlirougliout the 
Colonies. The highest honors were everywhere con- 
ferred on those parliamentary leaders wlio had been 
active in obtaining a repeal of the Act, and Yirginia 
resolved to erect a monument to His Majesty, George 
the Third, as an acknowledgement of her high sense 
of his attention to the rights and petitions of his 
people. 

But it was soon apparent that the differences be- 
tween England and her colonies had not been settled. 
The duties on imports still remained unrepealed, and 
caused great dissatisfaction in the commercial cities of 
the North ; and further aliment for pul)lic discontent 
was furnished by other Acts of Parliament. The 
British Ministry was again changed, and the new 
Chancellor of the Exchequer brought in a bill for lay- 
ing duties on tea, glass, paper, and painters' colors, 
inipcjrted into the colonies. The Legislature of New 
Yui'k, on the other hand, gave great offence to the 
Ministry by refusing to pass such laws for the accom- 
modation of quartered troops as were required by an 
xVct of Parliament ; and the powers of the Governor 
and Assembly were suspended by Parliament until 
they should comply. Massachussetts, too, was regard- 
ed by the Government as factious, because her As- 
seml^ly not only petitioned for the repeal of the tax 



106 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

on tea, etc., but issued a circular to the other colonies 
to join her in seeking redress. Being ordered to re- 
scind the resolution as to the circular, the Assembly 
refused to do it, and was dissolved. The Governors 
of other Colonies, by direction of the Ministry, 
demanded of their Legislatures an assurance that 
they would not reply to the Massachusetts Circular. 
These refused, and they also were dissolved. 

Nothing, however, produced a more powerful effect 
upon the public mind than certain military demonstra- 
tions at Boston. In consequence of repeated collisions 
at that place between the people and the collectors of 
customs, two Kegiments were held in readiness to em- 
bark for Boston, whenever Governor Bernard, of 
Massachusetts, or the General, should give the word. 
" Had this force been landed in Boston six months 
ago," writes the Commander of the fleet, " I am per- 
fectly persuaded no remonstrance or address would 
have been sent from the other colonies, and that all 
would have been tolerably quiet and orderly, at this 
time, throughout America." 

Tidings at last reached Boston that these troops had 
been embarked, and were coming to overawe the peo- 
ple. What was to be done ? The General Court had 
been dissolved, and the Governor refused to convene 
it without the royal command. A convention, there- 
fore, from the various towns met at Boston on the 
22d of September (L766) to devise measures for the 
public safet3\ While the Convention was still in ses- 
sion the two Regiments arrived with seven armed ves- 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 107 

eels. ^' I am very confident," wi-ites Commodore 
Hood, when leaving Halifax, " that the spirited meas- 
ures, now pursuing, will soon effect order in America." 

Thej only added fuel to the fire. A town meeting 
was held, and it resolved that the King had no right 
to send troops thither without the consent of the As- 
sembly; that Great Britain had broken the original 
compact, and that, therefore, the King's ofiicers had 
no longer any business there. 

The Selectmen accordingly refused to find quarters 
for the troops in the town ; and the Council refused 
to find barracks for them. Such of them, therefore, 
as had tents were encamped on the Common. Others, 
by the Governor's orders, were quartered in the State 
House, and others in Faneuil Hall, to the great indig- 
nation of tlie people, who were grievously scandalized 
at seeing field-pieces planted in front of the State 
House and sentinels at its doors ; and, above all, at 
having the sacred quiet of a New England Sabbath 
broken by the noise of fife and drum, and soldiers. 



CHAPTEK XIII. 

PEACEABLE RESISTANCE. 

As yet Washington took no prominent part in the 
public agitation. Indeed he was never disposed to put 
himself forward on popular occassions; his innate 
modesty forbade it. It was others, who knew his 
worth, that called him forth ; but when once he en- 
gaged in any public measure, he devoted himself to it 
with conscientiousness and zeal. At present he re- 
mained a quiet but vigilant observer of events from 
his eao^le nest at Mount Yernon. He had a few 
neighbors, wlio accorded with him in sentiment. One 
of the oldest of these was George Mason. His friend, 
the Fairflaxes, tho' liberal in feeling and opinion, were 
too strong in their devotion to the crown, to sympa- 
thize with the opposition to the Ministry. 

But now "Washington began to be drawn into the 
current. A letter written on the fifth of April 1769 to 
George Mason shows the position which he then oc- 
cupied. In the previous year the merchants of the 
priiicipal Northern cities had agreed to suspend for a 
a time the importation of all articles subject to taxa- 
tion. Washington's letter is emphatic in support of 
this measure. "At a time " says he, " when our lord- 
ly masters will be satisfied with nothing less than the 
108 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 109 

deprivation of American freedom, it seems highly 
necessary that something should be done to avert the 
stroke, and to maintain the liberty which we liave de- 
rived from our ancestors. But the manner of doina 
it, to answer the purpose effectually, is the point in 
question. That no man should hcruple or hesitate a 
moment in defense of so valuable a blessing is clearly 
my opinion. Yet arms should be the last resource, U 
devnier ressort. We have already, it is said, proved 
the ineificacy of addresses to the Throne, and remon- 
strances to Parliament. How far their attention to 
our rights and interests is to be awakened, or alarmed, 
by starving their trade and manufactures, remains to 
be tried." 

^' The Northern Colonies, it appears are endeavor- 
ing to adopt this scheme. In my opinion it is a good 
one, and must be attended with salutary effects, pro- 
vided it can be carried pretty generally into execu- 
tion. * * That there will be a difficulty attending 
it, everywhere, from clashing interests, and selfish, de- 
signing men, ever attentive to their own gain, and 
watchful of every turn that can assist their lucrative 
views, cannot be denied ; and in the tobacco colonies, 
where the trade is so diffused, and in a manner wholly 
conducted l)y factors for their principals at home, 
these difficulties are certainly enhanced, but I think 
not insurmountably increased, if the gentlemen in the 
several counties will be at some trouble to explain 
matters to the people, and stimulate them to cordial 
agreements to purchase none but certain enumerated 



110 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

articles out of any of the stores, after a definite period, 
and neither import, nor purchase any themselves. * * 
I can see but one chiss of persons — (the nierchants ex- 
cepted) who will not, or ought not, to wi^h well to the 
scheme ; namely, tliose who live genteelly and liospitably 
un clear estates. Such as these, were they not to con- 
sider the valuable object in view and the good of 
others, might think it hard to be curtailed in their liv- 
ing and enjoyments." 

This was precisely the class to which Washington 
himself belonged ; and he was ready and willing to 
make the sacrifices required. 

Mason, in his reply, concurred with him in opinion. 
" Our all is at stake " said he, " and the little conveni- 
ences and comforts of life, when set in competition 
with out liberty, ought to be rejected — not with reluc- 
tance, but with pleasure." 

There was at this time no thought, or desire on the 
part of either of them of separation for the Mother 
Country ; but only a fixed determination to be placed 
on an equality of riglits and privileges with her other 
children. 

A single word in the passage cited from Washing- 
ton's letter, evinces the chord which vibrated in the 
ximerican bosom. He incidentally speaks of England 
as home. It was the familiar term with which she 
was usually indicated by those of English descent. 
" How easy " says Irving, " it would have then been 
for her to have rallied back the affection of her col- 
onial children ! They asked for notliing but what they 



GtiORGK WASHINGTON. Ill 

were entitled to, and what slie had taught tliem to 
prize as their dearest inheritance.*' 

The result of the correspondence bel\Aeen Washing- 
ton and Mason, was the draft by the latter of a plan of an 
association, the members of w^hich were to pledge them- 
selves not to import, or use, any article of British mer- 
cjiandise, or manufacture, subject to duty. This paper 
Washington was to submit to the House of Burgesses 
at the approaching session in the month of May, (1769.) 

The Legislature opened on this occasion with a bril- 
liant pageant. While military force was arrayed to 
overcome the republican Puritans of New England, it 
was thought best to dazzle the aristocratical descend- 
ants of the Cavaliers, l)y the reflex of regal splendor. 
Lord Botetourt, a nobleman of the most conciliating 
and popular raannei-, had recently been appointed 
Governor of tl at Colony — the only Governor w^ho 
had appeared there within memory. It was supposed 
that his titled rank would ] ave its effect, and besides, 
to prepare him for occasions of ceremony, a coach of 
State was presented to him by the King. He was al- 
low^ed, moreover, the quantity of plate usually given 
to Ambassadors. 

His opening of the Session was in the style of the 
royal opening of Parliament. He proceeded in due 
parade from his dwelling to the Capitol in his State 
Coach drawn by six milk-white horses. Having de- 
livered his speech according to royal form, he re- 
turned home with the same pomp and circumstance. 

The Virginia legislators penetrated the intention 



112 GRORGE W,\SHINGTON. 

of this pompous ceremonial, and looked on with a 
smile. Sterner n^iatters occupied their thoughts. They 
took into immediate consideration tlie state cf the 
Colony, and passed unanimously several resolutions 
asserting, in ti e most decided terms, the exclusive 
right of that Assemhly to impose taxes on the inhahi- 
tants of his Majesty's dominion of Virginia, and their 
undoubted right to petition for a i-edress of griev- 
ances, and to obtain the concurrence of other colonies 
in such petitions. Alluding to a joint address of the 
Houses of Parliament to the King, assuring him of 
their support in any further measures for t]ie due exe- 
cution of the laws in Massachusetts and beseeching 
him that all persons charged with treason within that 
Colony might l)e sent to England for trial, the Bur- 
gesses further resolved that all persons charged with 
the commission of any offence within any of the 
American Colonies, were entitled to a trial befoi'e the 
tribunals of their country, according to the fixed and 
known course of proceeding therein, and that to seize 
such persons and transport them beyond sea for trial 
derogated in a high degree, from the rights of Brit- 
ish subjects ; as thereby the inestimable privilege of 
being tried by a jury of the vicinage, as well as the 
right of summoning and producing witnesses on such 
trial, would be taken away from the party accused. 

Intelligence of these proceedings having reached 
the Governor, he repaired to the Capitol, summoned 
the Speaker and Members to the Council Chamber, 
and addressed them in these words : 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 113 

" Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Bur- 
gesses I have heard of your resolves, and augur ill of 
their effects. You have made it nij duty to dissolve 
you, and you are dissolved accordingly." 

This measure did not produce the desired effect. 
The Burgesses convened at a private house. Peyton 
Kandolph, their late Speaker, was elected Moderator. 
Washington now brought forward the articles of asso- 
ciation which George Mason had drawn up for th 
occasion. It formed the groundwork of an instrumen; 
which was signed by every person present ; and which 
pledged them neither to import, nor use, any goods, 
merchandise, or manufactures, taxed by Parliament to 
raise a revenue in Ameri(^a. This paper, Ijeing recom- 
mended by the Burgesses to the people, was subscribed 
almost universally throughout the province. Washing- 
ton adhered to it rigorously. The articles proscribed by 
it were never to be seen in his house, and his agent in 
London was ordered not to ship any of them to liim. 

Before the Assembly was dissolved by die Governor 
it ordered its Pesolves to be communicated to every 
other Legislatui'e in America, and the co::currence of 
all to be asked. 

The voice of the Old Dominion roused '• the most 
temperate Province" of Pennsylvania from its slum- 
bers to express, through its merchants, its approval of 
what had been done. Delaware did still l)etter. Its 
Asseml^ly adopted the Virginia Resolves, word for 
word, and in due time every Colony south of Virginia 
followed the example. 



114 GP:0RGK WASHINGTON. 

Massachusetts had not only, like Virginia, to assert 
the rights or America, but also to effect the removal 
of the troops from Boston, ''into whose very streets 
and lanes " about two thousand men had been sent by 
the English Government. Her General Court, which 
had not met for ten months, convened on tlie 31st of 
May (1769). A committee immediately, before even 
electing a Clerk or a Speaker, complained to the Gov- 
ernor (Berimrd) that it was impossible to do business 
with dignity and freedom while the town was invested 
by sea and by land, and a military guard posted at the 
State House with cannon pointed at its door, and re- 
quested him to remove such forces "out of the port 
and beyond the gates of the city " during the Session 
of the Assembly. 

" G entlemen " said Bernard in reply, " I have no 
authority over his Majesty's ships in this port, or his 
troops in this town ; nor can I give any orders for the 
removal of the same." 

The General Court persisted in their refusal to tran- 
sact business in the midst of an armed force ; and the 
Governor thereupon adjourned their session to Cam- 
bridge. There he sent them a message requiring funds 
for the payment of the troops, and quarters for their 
accomodation. To this demand the House, after grave 
deliberation, made answer that they would " never 
make provision for the purposes mentioned." They 
were, thereupon, again prorogued, to meet in Boston 
on the 10th of January 1770. 

In the meantime the pledges of the non-importation 



GEORGE WASHIj^GluA'. 115 

association, being generally observed throughout the 
Colonies, that policy produced on British commerce 
the effect which Washington had anticipated, and 
Parliament was incessantly importuned by the British 
merchants to save them from ruin. This body had 
to yield, and the Ministry of the Duke of Grafton 
came to an end. The reins of government passed into 
the hands of Lord North, a man of limited capacity, 
but a favorite of the King, whose will lie implicitly 
obeyed. 

Parliament now passed an Act repealing all the 
duties laid in 1767, except that on tea. In vain was 
it insisted by some that this single exception, while it 
would produce no revenue, would keep alive the whole 
cause of contention ; Lord l^orth would not be con- 
vinced, or rather he knew that the King would not yield 
the right to tax the Colonists. " The properest time " 
said he, " to exert our ri2:ht of taxation is when the rio-ht 
is denied. To temporize is to yield, and the authority 
of the Mother Country, if it be not supported now, 
will be relinquished forever. A total repeal cannot 
he thought of till America is prostrate at our feetP 

On the very day that this Act was passed, (March 
1 770) a collision occurred in Boston between the troops 
and some of the people. The alarm bells rang ; a 
mob assembled ; the soldiers Unally fii-ed, and five 
persons were killed. The wildest excitement ensued. 
To calm it the troops were removed from the town. 

In Virginia the public discontent, which had been 
greatly allayed by the conciliatory conduct of Lord 



116 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

Botetourt, now broke out with greater violence than 
ever. His lordship, distressed by the failure of the 
Government to repeal all the taxes, as he had in its 
name promised, succumbed to a fever, which was ag- 
gravated by his anxiety and chagrin, and died, leavhig 
behind him a name endeared to the Yirginiaus by his 
amiable manners, and above all by his zealous inter- 
cession for their rights. 

About this time Washington made an expedition to 
the Ohio, to look after the lands which had been 
granted to him, and to the men who had taken part in 
the French and Indian war. His party consisted of 
Dr. Craik, and their three negro servants. They went 
down the Ohio to the mouth of the Great Kanawha, 
and thence returned home, after having had a great 
number of adventures, some of which were full of 
danger. 

The new Governor of Yirginia, Lord Dunmore, was 
soon involved in controversies with the Yirginia House 
of Burgesses on account of which that body was 
prorogued from time to time till March 1st 1773. 
Washington was prompt in his attendance, and fore- 
most among the patriotic members. One of their 
first acts was the appointment of a Committee of 
Eleven to look after the general aifairs of the Col- 
onies, and to maintain a correspondence with similar 
committees. This plan was adopted by all the Col- 
onies, and these Committees became the Executive 
Power of the Patriots. 

In the midst of the public commotion two events 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 117 

disturbed the tranquil life of Mount Yernon. Mrs. 
Washington's daughter, Miss Custis, died in the 17th 
year of her age, (June 1773), and in the following 
February, Mrs. Washington's son was married to Miss 
Calvert of Baltimore. He was the grandfather of the 
wife of General Robert E. Lee. 



CHAPTEE XIY. 

THE BOSTON TEA PARTY. THE PORT BILL. THE FIRST 
AMERICAN CONGRESS. THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON. 

The refusal of the Colonies to use tea lessened the 
demand for it so much that a very great quanity ac- 
cumulated in the warehouses of the East India Company. 
In response to that company's entreaties, the Ministry 
reduced the tax to the nearest trifle, and thereupon the 
company consigned large quantities to its agents in 
Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Charleston and other 
place?. This brought matters to a crisis. If the tea 
should be landed, the tories would buy it and the 
right of England to tax the colonies would be ad- 
mitted. The patriots felt thei^efore that the plan 
was a direct attack upon their liberties, and every- 
where resolved to oppose it. They declared that 
whoever sliould directly or indirectly countenance it, 
was an enemy to his country. From New York and 
Philadelphia the tea-ships were sent back to London, 
without unloading. In Charleston the tea was un- 
loaded but stored in damp cellars, where it perished. 
In Boston, a number of the citizens, disguised as In- 
dians, boarded the ships in the night, (December 18 
1773) broke open all the chests of tea, and emptied their 
contents into the sea. The whole was done .calmly, 

and in perfect order. 
118 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 119 

The English Governinent was greatlj incensed 
against all the Colonies by these acts, l)ut cliietly 
against Boston. A bill (known as the Boston Port 
Bill) was hnmediately passe 1 proliibitiiig the land- 
ing and shipping of goods wares a :d merchandize 
at Boston, and removing the Custom House to 
Salem. Another bill enacted that all Massachusetts 
officials should be appointed hy the Crown and hold 
office during the King's pleasure. Another law enacted 
that persons, indicted for capital offences conmiitted 
in political riots, should be sent to England for trial. 

The Legislature of Virginia was in session. Wash- 
ington reached Williamsburg on the 16th of May, 
and dined on the same day with the Governor. 
In common with other Burgesses, he tendered Lady 
Dunmore a ball to be given on the 27th. Before 
that day arrived, news of the Boston Port Bill came. 
The fact, being announced in the House of Burgesses, 
produced the greatest indignation. A protest against 
it was entered on the journals, and a resolution 
was adopted (May 24 1774) setting apart the 1st of 
June as a day of fasting humiliation and prayer. On 
the next morning the Governor dissolved the House. 
But its members did not disperse. They met, (as they 
had already, on a similar occasion, done,) passed a re- 
solution denouncing the Port Bill, and proposed a 
General Congress, which should meet annually and 
deliberate on such measures as the united interests of 
the Colonies might require. 

Notwithstanding Lord Dunmore's abrupt dissolu- 



120 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

tion of the House of Burgesses, its members still 
continued on courteous terms with liim, and the ball to 
Lady Dunmore was celebrated with unwaverino- sjab 
lantrv on the 27tli of Mav. As to Washin^rton, 
widely as he differed from the Governor on public 
questions, liis intimacy w^ith him remained unbroken. 
He dined and passed the evening of the 25th at 
his lordship's, breakfasted with him on the 26tli, and 
attended the ball on the 27t]i. On the 29th he at- 
tended anotlier meeting of Burgesses, which issued 
a call for a State convention to meet on the 1st of 
August, in order to take into consideration a proposi- 
tion which a town-meeting in Boston had made for 
the formation of a genei'al league suspending all 
trade with Great Britain. He was still in AVilliams- 
burg on the 1st of June, and notes in his Diary that 
he fasted rigidly, and attended the services appointed 
in church. 

Washington now took a leading and conspicuous part 
in preparing Virginia for the crisis. He presided over 
the meeting held in Fairfax County, for the purpose 
of appointing a delegate to the State convention, which 
the Burgesses had called, and was unanimously chosen 
to represent his county on that occasion. The meet- 
ing did not stop here. It denounced the Boston Poit 
Bill, and declared that Virginia would stand by Massa- 
chusetts in her extremity. A subscription was also 
taken up for the relief of the oppressed people of Bos- 
ton. Washington himself headed it with a gift of £50. 
South Carolina had l)een the first in this good work, 



GEORGE WASHINGTOI^. 121 

having, early in June, sent 200 Itarrels of rice, and 
promised 200 barrels UKjre. Xortli Carolina had 
quickly followed with a gift of £2,000 ; and all New 
England was giving rve, Hour, peas, cattle, sheep, 
oil, tish, and money. Maryland, Pennsylvania, and 
Canada poured in their contributions, and there was 
not a Colony which did not express, hi this practical 
way, its sympathy with the suffering people of Boston, 
who, under the lead of Samuel Adams, were braving 
the power of England. 

Tlie Virginia Convention met at Williamsburg on 
the 1st of August. Washington presented a series of 
patriotic resolutions, in support of winch lie spoke 
with practical eloquence, declaring his readiness to 
raise one thousand men, subsist them at Ins own 
expense, and march at their licad to the relief of Bos- 
ton, The resolutions were adopted, and Peyton Ran- 
dolph, Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, Pat- 
rick Henry Richard Bland, Benjamin Harrison, and 
Edmund Pendleton, were appointed delegates to re- 
present Virginia in the General Congress. 

When the time for the meeting of that body drew 
near, Edmund Pendleton and Patrick Henry^ came to 
Mount, Vernon, and went tht ncc wdtli Washington, on 
horseback, to Philadelphia, where the Congress con- 
vened on the 5th of September 1771. All the Col- 
onies were represented, except Georgia. Peyton Ran- 
dolph presided. After adopting a declaration of 
Rights ; a petition to the King ; addresses to the peo- 
ple of Great Britain, and of Canada ; and a memorial. 



122 GEOKGE WASIflN-GTON. 

to the inhabitants of the British Colonies — papers, 
whose ''decency, firmness and wisdom " attracted the 
attention, and won the applause of Edmund Burke, 
and the great Earl of Chatham — this august body of 
patriots adjourned. Washington exercised a great in 
fluence over its proceedings. Pati-ick Henry, being 
asked whom he considered the greatest man in Con- 
gress, replied, "If you speak of eloquence, Mr. Rut- 
ledge of South Carolina is by far the greatest orator • 
but if you speak of solid imformation jaid sound judg- 
ment, Colonel Washington is unquestionably the great- 
est man on that floor." 

On the adjournment of Congress, Washington re- 
turned to Mount Yernon. Things were rapidly chang- 
ing there. George William Fairfax, who was a royal- 
ist, had already returned to England to enjoy his es- 
tates in that country. His house, left to the care of 
an overseer, was accidently burned down, and the hos- 
pitable asssociations between Mount Yernon and Bel- 
voir were at an end forever. 

In February 1775 the Earl of Chatham proposed 
a bill for the paciflcation of the Colonies, but it 
was voted down ; and then Lord North disclosed his 
plan of procedure against them ; which was to send a 
greater army thither, to interdict the New Foundland 
fisheries to the New England Colonies, and to restrict 
their foreign trade to Great Britain, Ireland, and the 
West Indies. 

War was fast becoming inevitable. General Gage, 
who now connnanded the British forces in America, 



GEOBGK WASHINGTON. 12,^ 

now fortified Charleston Neck, wliieh connected the 
city of Boston with the mainland, and seized all the 
ammunition which he could find. The people of 
Massachusetts organized themselves as minute-men. 
Their Legislature appointed a Committee of Safety, 
with John Hancock as President, and authorized this 
committee to call out the militia. A committee was 
also appointed to procure military stores. Artemas 
Ward and Setli Pomeroy were appointed generals. 

A detachment of 800 or 900 men was sent by 
General Gage, at night, to capture some arms and 
military stores at Concord. The patriots determined 
to prevent them. The British soon learned from the 
ringing of bells and the firing of guns that the people 
had taken the alarm. When they readied Lexington, 
six miles from Concord, before sunrise, they found 
about 100 minute-men under arms. When these re- 
fused to disperse the regulars fired upon them, killing 
eight, and wounding others. The detachment then 
marched to Concord and destroyed some gun carriages, 
powder and balls. A party of militia approached, and 
were fired upon by the regulars — two were killed. A 
.skirmish ensued, and the regulars retreated, with the 
loss of several killed and wounded, and some prisoners. 
The people poured in from the surrounding country, 
and irregular fighting was carried on all day. In the 
march back to Boston the British were greatly har- 
assed by the fire from the liouses, and fences, and 
walls, along tlie way ; and would probably have been 
cut off entirely, but for re-inforcements which Gage 



124 GEOEQE WASHINGTON. 

sent to their relief. Their loss daring the day, in 
killed, wounded and prisoners, was 273. The Provin- 
cials lost about sixty. 

The war had now begun, (19 April 1775.) The news 
flew over the land as fast as expresses could carry it. 
The militia of New England hurried to Boston, and 
soon formed an armj' of 20,000 men. The South 
Carolinans took the Arsenal at Charleston, and armed 
their militia. Georgia joined tlie other Colonies, and 
seized the powder in the King's magazines. And the 
people of Mecklenburg County in North Carolina 
virtually declared their independence (20 May 1775.) 
Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold set out to capture 
the forts at Ticonderoga and Crown Point. Forcing 
their way in, at sunrise (May 10 1775,) AUen demand- 
ed the surrender of Ticonderoga, "in the name of the 
Great Jehovah, and the Continental Congress." It 
was surrendered, and what had cost England £8,000,- 
000 was won in ten minutes by a few raw niiliti^ 



CHAPTEE XY. 

THE BRITISH DRIVEN FROM BOSTON. THE AMERICANS 
FROM NEW YORK. 

A few hours after the sm-render of Ticenderoga the 
Second Continental Congress met at Philadelphia. 
They formed no confederacy ; they were not an Execu- 
tive Government ; they were not even a Legislative 
body. They had not one civil officer to carry out their 
connnand, nor power to appoint one, nor was one 
soldier eiilisted in their name. They had no treasury; 
nor had they authority to lay a tax, or to borrow 
money. But they acted^ nevertheless, and it was their 
destiny to cement a Union and to form a Nation. 

They ordered the enlistment of troops, the con- 
struction of forts, and the pm-chase of munitions 
of war, and army supplies. To provide the means, 
they emitted Continental money to the amount of 
$3,000,000. Washington was Chairman of all Com 
mittees for Military affairs. 

News came that Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne had 

landed at Boston with more British troops, and that 

other parts of the Country were to be invaded. The 

only patriot forces in the field were the New England- 

ers around Boston. Their commander. General Ward, 

a most estimable man, was known to be incompetent 

125 



126 GEORaE WASHINGTON. 

for such a liigh trust. John Adams explained the 
composition and character of the Kew England Army, 
its merits and its wants ; the necessity of its being 
adopted by all the Colonies and the consequen t propriety 
that Congress should name its General. Then, speak- 
ing for his constituents, he pointed out Washington as 
the man for the station. Samuel Adams seconded his 
colleague ; and on the 15 th of June, Washington was 
unamiously elected Commander-in-Chief. The fact 
was formally announced to him the next day in Con- 
gress. Kising in his place he briefly expressed his 
higli and grateful sense of the honor conferj-ed upon 
him, and his sincere devotion to the cause. "But" 
said he, "lest some unlucky event should happen un- 
favorable to my reputation, I beg it may be remem- 
bered by every gentleman in the room, that I this day 
declare with the utmost sincerity, that 1 do not think 
myself equal to the command I am honored with. As 
to pay, I beg leave to assure the Congress that, as no 
pecuniary consideration could have tempted me to ac- 
cept this arduous employment at the expense of my 
domestic ease and happiness, I do not wish to make 
any profit of it. I will keep a true account of my ex- 
penses. These I doubt not they will discharge, and 
that is all that I desire." 

A^Tasbington was then forty-three j'ears old, a little 
more than six feet high, broad-chested, and well pro- 
portioned, with a stately presence, wherein dignity 
and ease were charmingly blended. Hobust of consti- 
tution, enured to hardships, and strictly temperate, 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 127 

there were few that could excel him in strength of 
arm and power of endurance. His complexion was 
florid, his hair dark brown, his head perfectly round. 
His deeplj^-set, dark-blue eyes had an expression of re_ 
signation, and an earnestness that was almost sadness. 
Courage was so natiu'al to him, that it was rarely 
spoken of to his praise. No one, at any moment of 
his life, ever discovered in himthe least shrinking in 
danger ; and he had a hardihood for daring which es- 
caped observation, because it was so enveloped in 
calmness and wisdom. He had, at the same time, a 
cheerfulness of disposition, which not even the vast- 
ness of his responsibilities, and of his arduous labors, 
could entirely crubh out. He was unostentatiously lib- 
eral, kindly, compassionate and sympathetic, and would 
have willingly given his life for the good of his coun- 
try. His mind resembled a well-ordered common- 
wealth ; his passions, which had the intensest vigor, 
were governed by his reason ; and, with all the fiery 
quickness of his spirit, his impetuous and massi". e will 
was held in check by consummate judgment. 

His understanding was lucid, and his judgment ac- 
cui'ate. No detail was too minute for his personal in- 
quiry and continued supervision; and, at the same 
time, he comprehended events in their widest aspects 
and relations. He never seemed above the object of 
his attention, and was always equal, without an effort, 
to the solution of the highest questions, even when he 
had no precedent for his guidance. 

It was the most wonderful accomplishment of this 



128 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

man, that-— placed upon the largest theatre of events, at 
the head of the greatest revolution in human affairs — 
he never failed to do all that was possible, and always 
bounded his aspirations by that which was possible. 

No philosopher of the 18th century was more firm 
than he in the support of freedom of religious opinion; 
none more tolerant or remote from bigotry ; but belief 
in God and trust in His ever-ruling power, formed the 
essence of his character. 

Of a retiring modesty and habitual reserve, his am- 
bition was no more than the consciousness of power, 
and was always subordinate to his sense of duty. He 
loved fame, but neither the fear of censure, nor the 
prospect of applause could swerve him from recti- 
tude ; and it is his peculiar greatness that in public 
trust he used power solely for the public good. 

This is also the praise of Washington, that never in 
the tide of time has any man lived who has had in so 
great a degree the almost divine faculty to command 
the confidence of his fellow men, and to rule the will- 
ing.* 

On the 20th of June, 1775, lie received his com- 
mission, and on the next day set out for the army at 
Boston. 

The British had been reinforced by 10,000 men, un- 
der Generals Howe, Burgoyne and Henry Clinton. 
Tlius strengthened. Gage determined to take the 
offensive, and first of all to fortify Bunker's Hill. 



■'•"Bancroft. 
D 



GEOKGE WASHINGTON. 129 

To anticipate them, Colonel Prescott was sent with 
1200 men, by General Ward, to seize that height. 
This detachment left Cambridge abont 9 o'clock at 
night, and occupied Breed's Hill instead, and began 
to intrench. In the morning the British discovered 
them. Gates im.mediateij sent 2,500 men to dislodge 
them. Twice the British were driven back, but finally 
the Americans had exhausted their ammunition, and 
were forced to retreat. Their loss was 419 in killed 
and wounded; among them. General Warren. The 
Britisli lost 1051 officers and men, killed and 
wounded. 

A fortnight later Washington took command of the 
army. It numbered 14,500 men, chiefly undisciplined 
volunteers. His first care, while continuing the invest- 
ment of Boston, was to organize, drill and discipline 
his troops, to provide arms and military stores of all 
kinds, and to strengthen his works. He called, at the 
same time, for reinforcements enough to give him an 
effective force of 20,000. The winter was far ad- 
vanced before he thought it prudent to attempt to 
drive the enemy out of Boston, and even then there 
was delay. At length, however, on the 2d of March 
(1776), a heavy bombardment and cannonade was 
commenced on the town and on the British lines, 
and was repeated the two succeeding nights. On the 
night of the 4th of Marcli, immediately after the 
firing had begun, a considerable force under Major- 
General Thomas, crossing from Koxbury, took posses- 
sion of Dorchester Heights, which gave command. 



130 GEOliaE WASHINGTON. 

of the liarljor to the Americans. When mornmg 
dawned tlie heights had been strongly fortiiied. Gen- 
eral Howe, who had succeeded Gage in command 
of the Bricishj ordered Lord Percy, with 3,000 men, 
to dislodge the Americans. This detachment was 
scattered by a storm; and before another could be 
s nt, the works had been made so strong, that it was 
tliought unadvisable to attempt to force them. The 
Bi'itish, therefore, evacuated the town on the 17th of 
March (17Y6). An American force entered the towm, 
and General Putnam was placed in command. 

Great was the rejoicing of the Americans. Con- 
gress voted its thanks, and those of the tliirteen Uni- 
ted Colonies, to General Washington and to the officers 
and soldiers under his command, and ordered a gold 
medal to be struck in commemoration of the event, 
and presented to his excellency. 

The patriots gained another great success at the 
South. In January General Clinton liad sailed from 
Boston for New York ; • but finding General Charles 
Lee alread}^ tliere, by order of Washington, to meet 
him, he had continued his voyage southward to co- 
operate with the royal Governors of the Southern Col- 
onies. Being joined by a fleet under Sir Peter Parker, 
he proceeded against Charleston ; but after trying in 
vain for three weeks to take the forts, was compelled 
to put to sea. 

Immediately after the evacuation of Boston, Gen- 
eral Washington, who had long l^elieved that the 
grand efforts of the English army would l:>e directed 



GEORGE WASHTNGTOiNT. 131 

towards the Hudson, hastened with the mam body of 
his army to Kew York. One of his first measures 
was to break off all intercourse between the inhabit- 
ants and the British ships lying in the harbor. He 
then set to work to strengthen his position in every 
way. He soon discovered that his army was wholly 
incompetent for the great purposes for which it had 
been raised. His effective force was much below the 
estimate which had been made, and was wanting in 
arms, ammunition, tents, and clothes. Congress ac- 
cordingly called out 13,500 militia, to be furnished by 
the adjoining states, for the defense of New York; 
and 10,000 by Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland, 
for the defense of these States. 

Washington was greatly embarrassed by the num- 
ber of tories in New York. They even went so far 
as to form a plot to seize him and deliver him up to 
the British. The Mayor of the city and some of the 
General's Body Guard were concerned in it. By a 
timely discovery the sclieme was defeated, and some 
of those implicated suffered death. 

In the beginning of July, (1Y76), General Howe 
and the troops under him, landed on Staten Islai.d. 
It was the most formidable armament which liad then 
been seen on this continent. Admiral Lord Howe, the 
brother of the General, ai'rived on the 12th with his ileet. 
Washington's force did not exceed 10,000 men at the 
beginning of Jvdy. It was increased by subsequent 
reinforcements to 27,000 men, of whom about 20,000 
were fit for duty. A part was encamped on Lung 



132 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

Island under General Putnam. On the 27tli of Au- 
gust the British attacked the Americans on Long 
island, with a greatly superior force. The latter were 
driven back upon Brooklyn with great loss. Generals 
Sullivan and Sterling, with over 1,000 men, were 
captured. Washington, who was in New York when 
the battle commenced, crossed over to Brooklyn while 
it was going on ; but in time only to witness the hope 
less discomfiture of his men. The next day he sent 
over reinforcements, and at midnight on the 29th, 
silently withdrew his whole army to New York under 
a dense fog, with the loss of only a few pieces of 
heavy artillery. 

The manner in which this critical operation was 
executed, and the circumstances under which it was 
performed, added greatly to Washington's reputation, 
in the opinion of all military men. Without loss to 
withdraw a defeated, dispirited and undisciplined 
army fi'om the view of an experienced and able offi- 
cer, and to transport them in safety across a wide river, 
under the guns of a great and vigilant fleet, require 
talents of no ordinary kind, and the retreat from Long 
Island may be justly ranked among those skilful ma- 
noeuvres which distinguish a master in the art of war. 

Congress had meanwhile adopted (July 4, 1776), 
the Declaration of Independence. 

The success of the British on Long Island greatly dis- 
pirited the army. The militia went home by companies 
and by regiments. Washington expressed to Congress, 
with the deepest concern, his want of confldence in the 



aEORaE WASHINGTON. 133 

generality of the troops, and nrged the enlistment of 
men "for the war." On the 15th of Septeml)er, having 
removed liis snpplies from the city, he evacuated it on 
the approach of the British, and took position at 
Kingsbridge, at the northern extremity of Manhattan 
Island. From this he was driven on the 28th of 
October, and finally crossed the Hudson in order to 
be in position to defend Philadelphia, which was now 
threatened. He was followed by the British under 
Cornwallis, who pressed him closely as he retreated 
across New Jersey to Trenton, destroying the bridges 
along his route, and finally crossed the Delaware, 
(December 8th, 1776). 

Tliis was the period when the American cause was 
at its lowest pohit of depression. The minds of all 
were filled with gloom and apprehension. But Wash- 
ington bore bravely and manfully up. His efforts 
redoubled with his difficulties, and however desperate 
he may have -thought the condition of his army he 
neither said nor did anything which showed a want of 
confidence. Then it was that, when asked what he 
w^ould do, if the enemy took Philadelphia, he an. 
swered, " We will retreat beyond the Snsquehannah 
and, if necessary, beyond the Alleghany. 

Howe being unable to transport his troops across 
the Delaware, went into winter quarters at Princeton, 
Trenton, Bordentown, and other places in New Jer- 
sey, while the Americans encamped in the neighbor- 
hood of Philadelpliia. 

Congress l)eing thorouglily {iroused to a sense of its 



134 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

duties, now authorized the enlistment of a greatly 
increased force, for the loar, and empowered Washing- 
ton to call on the States for militia ; to appoint and 
remove all officers under the rank of Brigadier-Gen- 
eral ; to impress supplies for his army, paying a rea- 
sonable price therefor ; and to arrest and imprison any 
one who should refuse to take Continental money. It 
invested liim, in fact, with dictatorial puwers for the 
period of six months. 

In this moment of general despondency, Washing- 
ton had the bold and lucky thought to attempt offen- 
sive operations. Knowing that the British were 
encamped in different towns, somewhat remote from 
each other, he resolved to attack them. Crossing the 
Delaware, Christmas night, (17Y6), with 2,400 men, he 
fell suddenly upon al)out 1500 Hessians, who were 
posted at Trenton. In half an hour their com- 
mander and thirty men were slain ; all their stores and 
946 prisoners were taken. Not a man was lost by the 
Americans. Washington then recrossed the I>ela- 
ware with his prisoners. 

This bold and brilliant stroke revived the spirits of 
his army, and of the people. To profit by this fact^ 
he returned to, and reoccupied, Trenton, on the last 
day of the year, (17Y6). But his difficulties w^ere 
almost insurmountable. The army funds were ex- 
hausted. Congress had no credit. It was only by the 
pledge of their private fortunes by Washington and 
other officers, and^ by the liberality and active exer- 
tions of Robert Morris, that means were obtained 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 135 

for the immediate and urgent uses of tbe army. He 
had only 8,000 men, mostly raw and inefficient. 
Cornwallis was sent to drive him beyond the Dela- 
ware. At night the armies which had been slvirmish- 
ing, Avere separated only by the little river Assinpink- 
Cornwallis, having greatly the advantage in numbers, 
as well as in discipline and experience, counted on 
certain victory in the morning. Keeping up his camp 
fires in order to deceive him, Washington by a mas- 
terly manoeuvre, eluded him during the night, and 
when morning broke appeared unexpectedly before 
Princeton, where lie found three British Regiments 
on their march to join Cornwallis. Washington im- 
mediately attacked them. His advance, led by 
General Hugh Mercer, was thrown into confusion 
when that brave officer fell, mortally wounded ; but 
Washington, bringing np his main body in person, 
restored the fortunes of the day, and the enemy was 
put to flight. The abandoned camp in front of him, 
and the distant cannonade, first revealed to Cornwal- 
lis the escape of the Americans. He hurried in pur- 
suit, but was too late. Washington reached Morris- 
town, and occupied a position too strong to be taken 
by the English force. 

Nothing could have been more opportune than 
these successes at Trenton and Princeton, to raise the 
drooping spirits of the Americans. It excited as- 
tonishment everywhere, that an army which appeared 
to be broken down by a succession of defeats, and ill 
supplied with everything necessary for its efficiency, 



136 GEOKGE WASHINGTON. 

should turn upon a victorious and superior enemy, 
regain the ground which it had h:)st, and assume the 
offensive. It raised the military character of Wash- 
ington very high, both in Europe and America, and 
gained for him the title of tlie iVmerican Fabius. 

Soon after the Declaration of Independence Con- 
gress had sent Franklin and two other commissioners 
to France to negotiate an alliance with that country, 
and to ol)tai]i money for the urgent wants of the 
army. They were not officially recognized, but re- 
ceived much encouragement, and were aided with 
money, arms, clothing, and other army supplies. 
Many European officers tendered their services through 
them to the Republic; and among these the young 
Marquis de la Fayette. Ilis departure was opposed by 
his family, l)y the King, and by the British Minister. 
But he boug\t a vessel, landed at Charleston (1777), 
was coolly received by Congress, and warmly by 
Washington. With him came the Baron DeKall) and 
Pulaski. 

During this summer (1777), the flag, "the stars 
and stripes," was adopted by Congress. 

An invasion from Canada, supported by a move- 
ment up the Hudson from the City of !New York, 
was the main feature of the British campaign for 
the year 1777. Sir John Biirgoyne was intrusted 
with the execution of it. The first event of the cam- 
paign was the seizure of Fort Ticonderoga. This 
fort was held l)y General St. Clair with 3,000 men. 
But when the British took possession of a hill over- 



G-EORGE WASHTNGTON 



131 



looking tlie fort, the garrison aljandoned it, and with- 
drew into Yermont. The British pursued, and over- 
took them at Hubbard ton; but met such a fire as 
compelled them to give up the pursuit. 

The Americans fell back to Fort Edward, where 
General Schuyler took command, and led them to the 
mouth of the Mohawk river. AYliile on his way iu 
pursuit, Burgoyne sent Colonel Baum with five hun- 
dred men, to capture some stores at Bennington. The 
Vermont militia, under General Stark, completely 
routed them, killing or capturing nearly every man. 
Stark then attacked and drove back, with loss of tlieir 
artillery and baggage, reinforcements which Burgoyne 
had sent forward to Baum. 

An expedition, which Burgoyne had sent against 
Fort Schuyler, was routed about the same time l)y the 
[N'ew York militia under General Herkim.er. 

Burgoyne's force w^as now reduced to 6,000 men. 
Reinforcements were pouring in to the American 
camp, and Washington had sent thither some of his 
best officers, x\rnold, Lincoln and Morgan. General 
Horatio Gates was in command. 

The armies came together at Stillwater, on the 19tli 
of September, (L777). A skirmish ])egan, and grew 
into a general and bloody battle. The Americans 
withdrew at nightfall to their camp. The British 
bivouacked upon the field of battle ; but their condi- 
tion was desperate. More than two weeks passed be- 
fore any further action took place. 

Meantime, Burgoyne was falling short of provisions. 



138 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

and liis Indian and Canadian allies were deserting. 
On the other hand Gates' force was increasing. At 
last, believing that some of the American troops had 
been sent off to meet Clinton, who was advancing up 
the Hudson, Burgoyne began a second battle at Still- 
water on the Tth of October, (1777). He was badly 
defeated and driven from his position. In this battle 
Arnold distinguished himself by his reckless daring. 
The Americans pursued the defeated army as far as 
Saratoga, and then Burgoyne, finding his situation 
hopeless, surrendered. On the 17th of October (1777), 
his army, about 5,800 men, became prisoners of war, 
and a large quantity of arms, and other valuable stores 
passed into the hands of the Americans. The Ameri- 
can Army consisted of about 13,000 men. The event 
excited the liveliest joy throughout America, and many 
regarded it as decisive of the contest. It was the 
more grateful to the patriots because the army under 
Washington was suffering reverses. 

Howe, who had withdrawn his forces entirely from 
New Jersey, in June, now embarked nearly 20,000 
men in 300 ships, and entering Chesapeake Bay, land- 
ed at their head, for the purpose of taking Philadel- 
phia. Washington took position l)ehind the Brandy- 
wine, a small stream. Here he was attacked by supe- 
rior numbers, and driven back with the loss of 1,200 
men, (September 11, 1777). Lafayette was severely 
wounded. Kext day Washington retreating towards 
Philadelphia, took ] osition at Germanto\\m. On the 
15th he moved out to attack the British camp, but a 



GEOKGE WASHINGTON. 139 

Storm prevented a battle. Howe entered Pliiladelpliia 
on the 26tli of September. Upon this, Congress re- 
moved first to Lancaster, and then to York, where it 
continued to meet till the capital was abandoned by 
the British, the next summer. 

One of Howe's first movements was to send a large 
force against Forts Mifiiin, and Mercer, on the Dela- 
w^are. Washins^ton thinkino; that this would be a £>:ood 
time to attack the remaining forces, which were most- 
ly at Germantown, moved his army in three divisions 
and fell upon the British. At first the attack seemed 
successful, but the Americans were eventually forced 
to retreat with great loss. 

Howe having captured the Delaware forts, now 
went into winter quarters at Philadelphia, and Wash- 
ington at Yalley Forge, (Deceml)er 11). Here he was 
near his stores at Reading, and protected Congress 
which was sitting at York. His troops suffered severe- 
ly for the want of food, clothes, and every other ne- 
cessary. Many deserted, and those who remained 
needed all their patriotism, and all the power of their 
commander, to make their condition bearable. Some 
of Washington's enemies blamed him for the reverses 
which his army had sustained, and strove to have 
Charles Lee, or G ates put in his place ; but the Army 
and the Comitry saw that if Washington had not been 
successful in the field, he had always fought at a dis- 
advantage, with raw troops, at once inexperienced, ill- 
armed, and inferior in numbers to the enemy ; that he 
had pointed out the difficulties, and theii* remedy j and 



140 GEOKOE WASHINGTON. 

that if he had not been able, with insufficient means, 
to obtain victory, he had at least prevented defeat, 
when danger was most immiDcnt ; and had by his wise 
and untiring efforts, finally made the American troops 
a match for tlie well-appointed veterans of Europe. 

During this winter (1T7T-8) Congress adopted the 
Articles of Confederation, though they were not rati- 
fied by the States till 1781. A treaty was also made 
with France early in 1778. At this time, Baron von 
Steuben, an officer of Frederick the Great, offered his 
services to Congress, and was, at the request of Wash- 
ington, made Inspector-General of the Army, and in 
that important position did a great deal towards drill- 
ing and disciplining the troops. 

ISTo important action took place until the summer of 
this year (1778). Then the British, fearing that a 
French fleet would occupy the Delaware, left Phila- 
delphia for New York. Their army of 14,000 men 
was now commanded by Sir Henry Clinton. Wash- 
ington put off in pursuit, and on the 27th of June was 
within five miles of them at Monmouth, New Jersey. 
General Lee was ordered on the 28th to attack. He 
did so, but the bold attitude of the British regulars, 
the disadvantageous character of the ground, the un- 
satisfactory^ movements of the command, and want of 
confidence in his own troops, induced Lee to withdraw 
and wait for the main bod3^ Cornwallis pressed vig- 
orously on the retreating lines, and threw them into 
great disorder. At this crisis, Washington rode up and 
harshly accosted Lee. Then checking the retreat lie 



GEORGE WASHINGTON'. 141 

drew up the discomiitted troops in line, brought up 
the main l)ody of his ra-nij, and renewed the battle. 
The British were driven l)ack, but the Americans did 
not pursue, as night was approaching and the soldiers 
much exhausted by the hard fighting and the great 
heat. Lee's men had been under lire nearly all day; 
and he himself had displayed great gallantry and 
skill after their flight had been arrested. Washington 
intended to renew the battle in the morning, but the 
British retreated daring the night, and finally reached 
a safe position at Nevasink, having lost two thousand 
men by casualties and desertion in their retreat through 
New Jersey. Washington followed and took position 
at White Plains, whereupon Clinton withdrew to New 
York. 

In July a French fleet under the Count d'Estaing 
arrived off Newport; but, after making some demon- 
strations, and being disabled in a storm which com 
pelled it to go to Boston for repairs, it sailed in the 
autumn, to the West Indies, without having done any- 
thing. 

In July Major Butler, a tory, led a company of 
British and Indians into the beautiful Wyoming Val- 
ley, among the mountains of Pennsylvania. They 
captured the fort that was there, and massacred the 
garrison. They then fell upon the helpless people, 
slew and scalped all they could lay their hands upon, 
men, women, and children, and laid waste and ravaged 
the whole country. 

It was during this winter (1778-9) that George 



14:2 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

Kogers Clarke, with a force of Kentuckiaiis, acting 
under authority of Virginia, drove the British out of 
the country betw^een the Oiiio and the Lakes. This 
whole region was then annexed to Virginia under the 
name of the County of Illinois. 

The operations in America during 1779 were small, 
but not insigniiicant. In the North the British held 
only New York, Newport, and a few other places. In 
the South they had just taken and still held Savannah, 
and were gradually occupying all of Georgia. They 
had attempted to take Charleston, but had been driven 
back by Rutledge, Moulton and Pulaski. They burnt 
130 merchant vessels in the James, and an unfinislied 
frigate, and eight smaller vessels of war, at Portsmouth, 
where Virginia had established a Navy Yard; and 
then, having inflicted $2,000,000 of damage, return- 
ed to New York with 3,000 hogsheads of to- 
bacco. 

It was in this year that John Paid Jones distin- 
guished the birth of the American Navy by his bril- 
liant sea-fio^hts off the Eno-lish Coast. 

During 1780 the war was c;arried on cliiefly in the 
South, whither Clinton, leaving sufficient forces for 
the protection of New York, novr went. On the 11th of 
May, he took Charleston, after an obstinate resist- 
ance, and aided by that brilliant soldier. Colonel Tarlc- 
ton, completed the conquest of South Carolina. 
After which Clinton returned to New York (3d June 
1780), leaving Cornwallis with 4,000 men to complete 
the conquest of. the Soutli, In tlie troubled times that 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 143 

followed Sumter and Marion made themselves forever 
famous as partisan leaders. 

Gates was now placed iii command of the American 
armies in the South, (July 25). He advanced towards 
Camden, South Carolina with 4,000 men, (many of 
whom were unfit for duty,) hoping to surprise the 
British there, under Cornwallis and Rawdon. Corn- 
wallis set out on the 15th to surprise Gates. The two 
armies stumbled upon each other after midnight. As 
soon as day dawned the battle began, (August 16, 
1780). The militia fled from the charge of the 
bayonet. DeKalb was killed. Every corps was shat- 
tered and dispersed, and the Am.ericans were swept 
from the field. Gates retired into North Carolina. 
He was then relieved of the command, and General 
Nathaniel Greene was appointed hj Washington in 
his stead. 

A few days after the battle of Camden, Sumter, in 
command of a detachment sent out l^y Gates to in- 
tercept some supplies for the British, was attacke.I and 
hadlj whipped by Tarleton. 

One victory only cheered the patriots. Colonel 
Campbell with a thousand men attacked a body of 
English and tories under Colonel Ferguson, at Kings's 
Mountain. Thrice Ferguson drove his furious adver- 
saries back with the bayonet, but the murderous rifles 
of mountaineers picked off 150 of liis best men. Fer- 
guson himself fell, and then the eight hundred sur- 
vivors surrended, (9th October 1780.) 

The armies in the North ha<l been comparatively 



Itt4 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

quiet- Lafayette had, liowever, been to France, and 
obtained the promise of greater assistance. Seven 
ships of the line, with 6,000 troops under Count 
Kochambeau, arrived off Newport, on the 10th of 
July, (1780), and Washington went to Hartford to 
meet Rochambeau. 

During his absence a plot for betraying West Point 
to the British was discovered. Benedict Arnold, who 
had fought so 1)ravely and skilfully in the first years 
of the war, had, through his speculations and extrava- 
gance, involved himself in troubles, for which he had 
been censured by Congress, and afterward deprived of 
his command. He had, nevertheless, prevailed upon 
Washington to place him in command of the import- 
ant post at West Point, (July, 1780). This place he 
proposed to surrender to the British. In order to 
complete the arrangements, Major John Andre, a 
young and promising officer, was reluctantly persuad- 
ed to meet Arnold. That officer took him within the 
American lines. After all had been arranged, Andre 
started to New York. Crossing the Hudson, he had 
reached Tarrytown, when he was stopped, and his pa- 
pers, containing plans of West Point and instructions 
for its attack, were found upon him. Arnold, hearing 
of the arrest of Andre, made his escape down the 
river, and was received into the British army, with 
the rank of Brigadier-General, and was paid £10,000. 
Andre was tried by a court-martial, and sentenced to 
be hanged as a spy. Evsry effort was made by Clin- 
ton to save him ; 1 )ut as he refused to give Arnold in 



GEORfiE WASHINGTON. 145 

exchange, the sentence was sacllj carried into execu- 
tion (October 2d, 1880). 

The beginning of the new year (1781,) saw active 
preparations going on in the South. Greene had 
been diligently reorganizing and strengthening his 
army. He sent Morgan early in January with one 
Division of 1,000 men, into South Carolina, to arouse 
the militia and keep down the tories. Colonel Henry 
Lee went (Liglit-IIorse Harry) with his Legion, to the 
of Marion. Tarleton advanced to attack Morgan, 
who posted Iiis army at " the Cowpens," near he South 
Carolina line. Tarleton attacked with his usual spirit, 
and superior numbers, and was sure of victory. He 
M'as bravely and resolutely met, however, (17th Janu- 
ary, 1781), and a charge by Colonel Washington de- 
cided the day against him. The British fled with a 
loss of more than 100 killed, and 523 prisoners. 
Tarleton was himself wounded hy Colonel Wasliing- 
ton, in a hand to-hand fight. When, some time after- 
wards, he sneered at Washington's inability to write 
his name, he was wittily and properly reminded, that 
"any way, Washington knew how to make his mark." 

Morgan hastened with his prisoners towards Yir- 
ginia. Cornwallis pursued, with great vigor. Greene, 
hurrying to Morgan, took command and led the re- 
treat to Charlotte, in the meantime ordering the 
rcbt of his army to join liim. Across the State of 
North Carolina they marched, still followed close- 
ly by Cornwallis. Twice they 1)arely escaped him. 
Twice the British were detained by swollen streams, 



14:6 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

over which the Americans had passed in safety. At 
hist Greene reached Yirginia, where he was reinforced 
by Yirginia militia. 

His troops now amounted to more than 4,000 men^ 
and Greene resolved to give l)attle. Ho accordingly 
advanced to Guilford Court House in North Carolina^ 
and awaited t e enemy. On the 15th of March 
(1781), the armies met. The I^orth Carolina militia 
fled at the first charge ; tlie Yirginia militia were 
driven back by the l)ayonet ; a new Maryland Eegi- 
ment gave w^ay, and the British were only held in 
check by Colonel Washington's dragoons. At last 
the Americans fell back in order. Cornwallis, whose 
army was hardly half as strong as Greene's, and was 
destitute of supplies, returned to "Wilmington. 

Greene now advanced toward Camden, where Lord 
Kawdon was stationed with a strong force. On the 
25th of April E-awdon attacked and drove him back. 
Next month, however, the British fell back to Eutaw 
Springs, where, being follow^ed by Greene, one of the 
fiercest battles of the war took place (8th September 
1781). It resulted in the retreat of the British into 
Charleston. This battle closed the war in South Caro- 
lina. 

When Greene moved into South Carolina, Corn- 
wallis moved into Yirghiia. There he found Arnold 
in supreme command, lie having been sent thither by 
Clinton at the head of 16,000 men. Cornwallis took 
command of the whole army at Petersburg, and or- 
dered Arnold out of the State. 



aBORGE WASHINGTON. 147 

From May to Julj Cornwallis spent his time laying 
waste the country, and destroying all manner of prop- 
erty, closely watched, meantime, by Lafayette, who 
was, however, too weak to meet the enemy in the 
open field. 

After various marches and countermarches, Corn- 
w^allis, by order of Clinton, fortified himself at York- 
town, where he liad the benefit of navigable waters 
and the presence of a few^ frigates. 

Washington having learned that a French fleet 
would soon arrive in tlie Chesapeake, saw that with 
this fleet to block the mouth of York river, and a 
sufficient army in the peninsula, Cornwallis would be 
completely at his mercy. He laid his plans accord- 
ingly. Concentrating his forces as if for an attack 
on New York, he so fully impressed Clinton with the 
belief tliat such was his pm*pose, that that General 
not only refused to send reinforcements to Cornwal- 
lis, but ordered him to be ready to reinforce New 
York. Everything being in readiness, Wasliington 
pressed forward with all his available men to the 
head of the Chesapeake, where they all embarked on 
French vessels and were transported to the neighbor- 
hood of Williamsbiu*gh. Do Grasse had already ar- 
rived in the Chesapeake with his whole fleet — twen- 
ty-four ships of the line — and had landed 3,000 
French soldiers to reinforce Lafayette. Scarcely had 
he done this, when an English squadron appeared. 
This the French attacked and drove back to sea. 

Clinton, now attempted to recall Washington to' 



148 GEORGK WASHING-TON. 

tlie nortli by a diversion into New England. Arnold 
was sent to ravage the coast of Connecticut. New 
London was taken, plundered and burnt, and other 
barbarities were committed ; but Washington's plans 
were not changed. 

On the 29th of September, (1781), he laid regular 
siege to Yorktown. The English were about 8,000 
strong. The besiegers consisted of 7,000 French, 
and 9,500 Americans. On the 6th of October 
fire was opened, and was continued uninterruptedly 
until the 14:th, wdien an assault was made, under the 
lead of Alexander Hamilton, and the outer works 
were taken. The lines were now drawn closely 
around Cornwallis. He looked in vain for help. As 
a last desperate chance of escape, he resolved to cross 
the York river, cut his way through his enemy, and 
rejoin Clinton, by forced marches. The attempt was 
made, but the winds and waves, which had been ad- 
verse to him throughout the year, Avere fatal to him 
now. He could not move. Nothing now remained 
but capitulation, and the whole army, (7,015 men), 
was surrendered to the allied forces on the 19th of 
October 1781. So ended the brilliant career of Corn 
wallis in America; so ended the b ttles of the Revo- 
lution. 

Washington would have followed up the reduction 
of Yorktown by a combined operation against Charles- 
ton ; but the Count de Grasse was under orders 
which prevented him from remaining with ]iis fleet 
long enough to unite in the enterprise, and Washington 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 149 

was consequently forced to abandon it. Tlie fleet, 
with a portion of the French forces, accordingly set 
sail ])efore the end of the month. Lafayette soon 
jifterwards returned to France. The rest of the 
French army went into winter quarters in Virginia, 
the Count de Rochambeau fixed his headquarters at 
Williamsburg. 

Washington, after detaching about 2,000 continent- 
als under Gren. St. Clair to reinforce General Greene 
in the Carolinas, sent the main body of his forces 
northward under General Lincoln, to be cantoned 
in New Jersey and on the Hudson, so as to be 
in readiness for operations against New York in the 
Spring. 

He then left Yorktown (Nov. 5, 1781) and arrived 
the same day at Eltham, the residence of Col. Bassett, 
just in time to witness the death of Mrs. Washing- 
ton's only sur\dving child, John Parke Custis, then in 
in his 28th year and a member of the Yiro-inia Leo:isla- 
ture. He left a widow and four young children. The 
two youngest, a boy and a girl, Was] iington adopted, and 
they thenceforth formed a part of his immediate family. 

Proceeding to Philadelphia, by way of Mount Yer- 
non, he was received by Congress with distinguished 
honors. He did not allow such ceremonies, however, 
prevent liim from zealously urging that bod}^ to 
take the most vigorous and effectual measures for an 
early and decisive campaign, in the next yesr. His 
views were concurred in by the Military Committee 
and by the Secretaries of War, Finance, and Public 



150 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

Affairs; and, under his impulse and personal supervi- 
sion, the inilit?uT arrangements for 1782 were made 
with unusual despatc^h. Congress made requisitions on 
the several States for men and money ; and Wash- 
ington hacked those requisitions by letters to the 
respective Governors, m-ging prompt action on their 
part. Strenuous exertions were also made by Dr. 
Franklin our Minister to France, to secure the con- 
tinued and efficient co-operation of that country ; and 
the King, npon hearing of the capitulation of York- 
to^vn, promised a loan of six millions. 

Early in April (1782), Washington established his 
Head-Quarters at Newburgh on the Hudson, where 
he continued to urge Congress and the States to pre- 
pare for an active and decisive campaign. Rumors of 
peace were, however, paralyzing the energies of both 
Government and people, and he found it difficult to 
make them do their duty. " No nation," said he, 
ever yet suffered in treaty by preparing, even in the 
momeni; of negotiation, most vigorously for the field." 

His efforts were also greatly hampered by the 
discontents which prevailed among both officers and 
men, by tlie reason of the neglect of the States, not 
only to pay them their scant pa^^, but even to provide 
the means for tlieir daily subsistence. There were 
indeed days when they were absolutely in want of 
provisions. 

They attributed all their ills to the existing form of 
Government, and a part}^ sprang up in camp which 
believing tliat these ills were only to be cured by con- 



a:feJOKGE WASHINGTON. 151 

solidating power in the hands of a vigorous and capa- 
ble ruler, proposed to make him, who, in their words, 
" had led them, through difficulties apparently insur- 
mountable by human power, to victory and glory," 
—King. 

The matter was suggested to Washington, who in- 
dignantly replied that he received the proposition with 
horror, and must reprehend it with severity. " If I 
am not deceived in the knowledge of myself," said 
he, ^' " you could not have foimd a person to whom 
your schemes could be more disagreeable." 

On the 2d of August, (1782), Washington was no- 
tified by the British commander at New York, Sir 
Guy Carleton, that he had been officially informed 
that negotiations for peace had been already begun at 
Paris, and that the Independence of the United States 
would be proposed in the first instance by the British 
Commissioner, and not be made a condition of the 
general treaty. 

But Washington did not on this account lessen his 
exertions to strengthen his army and position. " Jeal- 
ousy and precaution," said he, '' at least do no harm. 
Too much confidence and supineness may be pernicious 
in the extreme." 

He however wrote to the Count de Rochambeau, 
who was still in Yirginia with his army, advising him 
to march his troops to the banks of tlie Hudson, and 
form a junction mth the American army. This was 
done about the middle of September (1782.) 

There they remained inactive throughout the an- 



152 GE'JKG-P: WASHINGTON". 

tiimn and winter, while discontents in the American 
army reached so alarming a degree, that it required 
all the al)ility and influence of Washington to prevent 
them from l)reaking oat into open mutiny. 

On the 15th of March, (1TS3), he read a feeling 
address to the officers, in the course of which he said : 

'' If my conduct heretofore has not evinced to you 
that I am a faithful friend to the army, my declara 
tion of it at this time would l)e equally unavailing and 
improper. But as I was among the first who em- 
1)arked in the cause of our common country ; as I 
have never left your side one moment, but when called 
from you on public duty ; as I have been the constant 
companion and witness of your distresses, and not 
among the last to feel and acknowledge your merits ; 
as I have ever considered riiy own military reputa- 
tion as inseparably connected with that of the army; 
as my heart has ever expanded with joy when I liave 
heard its praises, and my indignation has arisen when 
the mouth of detraction has been opened against it, it 
can scarcely be supposed at this late stage of the war, 
that I am indifferent to its interests. * * For myself, 
a recollection of the clieerful assistance and prompt 
obedience I have experienced from 3'ou under every 
vicissitude of fortune, and the sincere affection I feel 
for an army which I have so long had the honor to 
command, will oblige me to declare in this pul)lic 
and solemn manner, that for the attainment of com- 
plete justice for all your toils and dangers, and the 
gratification of every wish, so far as may be done con- 
sistently with the great one I owe my country, and 
those powers we are bound to respect, you may fully 
command my services to the utmost extent of my 
abilities. 



GEORGE AVASHINGTON. 153 

"AVliile I give you these assurances, and pledge 
myself in the most unequivocal mamier to exert what- 
ever abilities I am possessed of in your favor, let me 
entreat you, gentlemen, on your part, not to take any 
measures which, viewed in the calm light of reason, 
will lessen the dignity and snll)^ the glory which you 
have hitherto maintained. Let me request you to 
rely on the plighted faith of your countrj^, and to 
place full coniidence in the purity of the intentions of 
Congress: * * * and let me conjure you, in the 
name of our common country, as you value your sacred 
honor, as you respect the riglits of humanity, and as 
you regard the military and the national character of 
America, to express your utmost horror and detesta- 
tion of the man, who wishes, under any specious pre- 
tences, to overturn the lil^erties of our country ; and 
who wickedly attempts to open the floodgates of civil 
discord, and to deluge our rising empire in blood." 

Hardly had Washington begun to read thi address 
when, making a short pause, he took out his specta- 
cles, and begged the indulgence of the audience until 
he put them on, observing at the same time, that lie 
had grown gray in their service^ and noio found him- 
self growing hlindy '^ There was something," says 
an eye-witness, " so natural, and so unaffected, in this 
appeal, as to render it su; erior to the most studied ora- 
tory ; it forced its way to the heart, and you might 
see, sensibility moisten every eye." 

The moment that Washington retired from tlie As- 
semldy, a resolution was moved by the warm-hearted 
Knox, and seconded l)y Putman, and passed unani- 
mously, assuring him that the officers reciprocated his 



154 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

affectionate expressions with the greatest sincerity of 
which the human heart is capal)le," that they would 
do nothing to sully the reputation and glory acquired 
at the price of their blood, and eight years faithful 
services ; and would continue to repose unshaken faith 
in the justice of Congress and their Country. 

At length a French vessel, the Triumph, arrived 
(March 23d) bringing a letter from Lafayette to the 
President of Congress, communicating the intelligence 
that a Treaty of Peace had been signed at Paris, on 
the 20th of January (1783). A few days thereafter 
Sir Guy Carleton informed General Washington by 
letter that he had been ordered to proclaim a cessation 
of hostilities by sea and land, and on the 17th of April 
Washington received a similar Proclamation made by 
Congress. 

Washington now began, by authority of Congress, 
to grant furloughs without stint to his army ; and al- 
lowed them to take their arms with them. The men 
thus furloughed were never called upon to rejoin the 
army. "Once at home" says Irving, "they sank into 
domestic life ; their weapons were hung up over their 
fireplaces as military trophies of the Revolution, to be 
prized by future generations." 

By a proclamation of Congress dated the 18th of 
October (1783), all officers and soldiers absent on 
furlough Avere discharged from furtlier service ; and all 
others who had engaged to serve " during the war " 
were to be discharged on the 3d of November. A 
small force only, composed of those who had enlisted 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 155 

for a definite time, wp.s to be retained in service until 
the Peace Establishment should be organized. On the 
2d of November Washington published this Proclama- 
tion to the Armies of the United States, and bade them 
farewell in one of those admirable Addresses, whose 
straightforward simplicity, whose wise and gentle 
counsels, whose kindness and benevolence, so perfect- 
ly in accord with his character and his conduct, always 
had an irresistible effect even on t-:e rudest intellec^ts, 
and the roughest hearts. 

It was not until the 25th of November (1783) that 
the British were ready to evacuate New York. On 
that day General Washington, accompanied by Gov- 
ernor Clinton of New York, took station at Harlem, 
w^ith some troops under General Knox. Thence they 
moved to the Bowery. There they remained till the 
British troops had evacuated that quarter, tlien they 
marched into, and took possession of, tlie city, the 
British emljarking from the lower parts. A formal 
entry then took place of the military and civil authori- 
ties. General Washington and Governor Clinton with 
their suites on horseback led the procession accom- 
panied by a troop of Cavalry. Then followed tlie 
Lieutenant-Governor, and members of the Council, 
General Knox and the officers of the Army, the 
Speaker of the Assembly, and a large number of citi- 
zens on horse-back and on foot. 

In the course of a few days Washington left iijv 
Annapolis, where Congress was convened, in order to 
resign his commission. A barge was in waiting, at 



156 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

noon on the 4:th of December, to convey him across 
the Hudson. His principal officers were assembled at 
a Tavern near the Whitehall Ferry, to tak-; final leave 
of him. On enterino; tlie room and findino^ himself 
surrounded by his old companions in arms, his feelings 
overcame him. Filling a ghiss of wine, he said : " With 
a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of 
you, most devoutly wishing that your latter days may 
l)e as prosperous and as happy as your former ones 
have been glorious and honorable." Having drunk 
this farewell benediction, he added with emotion, " I 
cannot go to each of you to take my leave, but shall 
be obliged if each of you will come and take me by 
the hand." 

General Knox, who was nearest, was the first to ad- 
vance. Washington, affected even to tears, grasped 
his hand, and embraced him. In the same affectionate 
manner he took leave of all the rest. Not a word was 
spoken — and then in silence they all followed him to 
the barge. Entering it, he took off his hat and waved 
a silent adieu. They replied in the same manner, and 
after watching him till he was out of sight, returned in 
silence to the place where they had met. 

On his way to Annapolis, AVashington stopped for a 
few days at Philadelphia, where, with his usual exact- 
ness in matters of business, he adjusted with the Treas- 
u.ry his accounts from the commencement of the war, 
down to the very day, (December 13th 1783). They 
were all in his own hand- writing, and kept in the 
cleanest and most accurate manner, each entry being 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



157 



accompanied l)y a statement of the occasion, and object, 
of the charge. The gross amount was £14,500 sterl- 
ing, money actually expended by him in the progress 
of the war. He accepted no pay. 

In passing through New Jersey, Pennsylvania and 
Maryland, he was everywhere hailed with enthusiasm 
by the people, and greeted with the addresses of Leg- 
islative and other, bo lies. He accepted it all with 
the modesty inherent in his nature. 

Having arrived at Annapolis, he wrote to tlie Pre- 
sident of Congress, on the 20th of Deceml)er, asking to 
])e informed in what manner it would be most proper 
to offer his resignation, lie was requested to offer it 
at an audience. Accordingly he entered the Hall of 
Congress shortly after noon on the 23d of December. 
The gallery, and the greater pai't of the floor were 
filled with ladies, and public functionaries, and with 
officers of the Army. The members of Congress were 
seated, and with their hats on. The other gentlemen 
present w^ere standing and uncovered. 

He was conducted by the Secretary of Congress to 
a chair which had been prepared for him. The Presi- 
dent of Congress, rising said, " The United in States 
Congress assembled are prepared to receive your com- 
munication." 

"Washington then rose and, in a dignified and im- 
pressive manner, delivered a short address — concludhig 
it with these words : 

" Having now finished the work assigned me, I re- 
tire from the great theatre of action; and, bidding an 



158 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

affectionate farewell to this august body, under whose 
orders I have long acted, I here offer mj commission, 
and take my leave of all the employments of pnblic 
life." 

Havmg delivered his commission into the Jiands of 
the President, the latter in reply bore testimony to his 
exalted patriotism, to his wisdom and fortitnde and to 
his invariable respect for the civil power of the Gov- 
ernment, through all disasters and changes. " Yon re- 
tire" added he, ''from the theatre of action vdth the 
blessings of yonr fellow citizens ; but tlie glory of jouv 
virtues will not terminate with your military com- 
mand ; it will continue to animate remotest ages." 

Leaving Annapolis the next day he reached his be- 
loved Mount Yernon the same day, Christmas Eve, 
feeling, as he said, in a letter to Governor Clinton, 
"eased of a load of public care," and hoping to spend 
the remainder of his days, in cultivating the affections 
of good men, and in the practice of domestic virtues. 



CHAPTEE XYI. 

LIFE AT MOUNT YERNON. 

Ill a letter to Lafayette he describes the general 
tenor of his life, and thought at this time. " Free 
from the bustle of the camp and the busy scenes of 
pul)lic life, I am solacing myself with those tranquil 
enjoyments of Avhicli the soldier, who is ever in pur- 
suit of fame, the statesman, whose watchful days and 
sleepless nights are spent in devising schemes to pro- 
mote the welfare of his own, perhaps the ruin of 
another country — as if this Globe were insufficient 
for us all — and the courtier, who is always watching 
the countenance of his prince in hopes of catcliing a 
gracious smile can have very little conception. I 
liave not only retired from all public employments, but 
I am retiring within myself, and shall be able to view 
the solitary w^alk, and tread the paths of private life 
with heartfelt satisfaction." 

To another he wrote, '' My manner of living is 
plain, and I do not mean to be put out of it. A glass 
of Avine and a l:)it of mutton are always ready ; and 
such as will be content to partake of them, will always 
be welcome. Those who expect more will be disap- 
pointed." 

This letter was written in view of the stream of 

159 



160 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

visitors which was beginning to pour toward Mount 
Vernon, and of tlie economy ^vhich he Avas forced to 
practice by reason of the disorder into which his af- 
fairs had fallen during the war. The same circum- 
stances induced the Supreme Council of Pennsylvania, 
ahout this lime, to instruct tlieir delegates in Congress 
to propose some national reward for his eminent 
services. Before submitting the matter to Congress 
these delegates sent a copy of th ir instructions to 
Washington. He declined to let the subject be 
referred to Congress, Ijut expressed his grateful ac- 
knowledgement to Pennsylvania for her considerate 
and graceful intentions, and her high appreciation of 
his ser^dces. 

Applications began now to be made to liim for 
material wherewith to prepare histories of the Eevolu- 
tion, and memoirs of his own life. To all these he 
replied, that as to the public papers in his possession 
relative to the occurrences and transactions of his late 
command, he could not submit tliem to any one, v/ith- 
out the consent of Congress, and that it would rather 
hurt his feelings than flatter his pride to know that 
any memoir of his life distinct and unconnected with 
the general history of the war, was l)eing Avritten, and 
that he surel}^ could not furnish papers or information 
for such a purpose without subjecting himself to tlic 
imputation of vanity. " Iliad rather leave it to pos- 
terity to think and say what they please of me,'' writes 
he^ " than, by any act of mine, to have vanity or osten- 
tation imputed to me," 



GEORGE WASHIiN'GTON. 161 

During the summer, Lafayette who had just re- 
turned from Europe, spent a fortnight at Mount 
Yernon, and in December made another visit to its 
liospitable owner, prior to returning to France. When 
he left, Washington accompanied him to Annapolis, 
and on his return to Mount Yernon, wrote to the 
Marquis one of the few sentimental letters to be 
found in his multifarious correspondence. " In the 
moment of our separation, upon the road, as I trav- 
elled and every hour since^ I have felt," said he, " all 
that love, respect, and attachment for you, with 
whicli length of years, close connection, and your 
merits have inspired me." I often asked myself, as 
our carriages separated, whether that was the last 
bight that I should ever have of you. And though I 
wished to answer No, my fears answered Yes. I 
called to mind the clays of my youth, and found that 
they had long since fled to return no more ; that I was 
now descending the hill, which I had been fifty-two 
years climbing, and that though I was blessed with a 
good constitution, I was of a short-lived family, and 
might expect to be soon entombed in the mansion of 
my fathers." 

During this Summer (1784) he had made an ex- 
pedition with his friend Dr. Craik to his lands on the 
Monongahela. He carefully observed the course and 
character of the rivers which flow eventually into the 
Mississippi, and those which flow into the Atlantic, 
and considered earnestly the practicability of an easy 
and sliort communication between the Potomac and 



162 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

the James, on the east, and tlie waters of tlie Ohio on 
the west; and the vast advantages which wonld result 
therefrom to the States of Virginia and Maryland. 
He saw, too, the necessity of thus binding the valley of 
the Mississippi to the Atlantic sea-board. Every con_ 
sideration, political, commercial and economical favor- 
ed the scheme. " Smooth the road to the West " said 
he, " and make easy the way for its people, and then 
see what an influx of articles will pour in upon us ; how 
amazingly our exports will be increased by them, and 
how amply all shall be compensated for any trouble or 
expense we may encounter to effect it." 

Such were some of the ideas ably and amply set 
forth by him in a letter to the Governor of Yirginia; 
who laid it before the Legislature. The favor with 
which it was received induced Washington to repair to 
Richmond and support the measure in person. On 
tlie morning after liis arrival (16 of November 1784) a 
Connnittee of the House, headed by Patrick Henry, 
waited upon in behalf of that body, to testify their 
reverence for his character, and aifection for his per- 
son, and their sense of the proofs which he constantly 
o-ave that no change of situation could turn his thoughts 
from the welfare of his country 

The suggestions of Washington in his letter to Gov- 
ernor Harrison, and his representations during tins 
visit to Eichmond, gave the first impulse to the great 
system of Internal Improvements, on wliich have rest- 
ed the growtli, the prosperity and the perpetuity of 
the Union. 



ai:ORGE WASHINGTON. 163 

He did not let the matter rest ; but urged it upon 
the attention of Congress in a letter addressed to its 
President, wherein he suggested that the Western 
rivers should he explored, their navigability be ascer 
tained, and the country mapped ; that in all grants of 
land, the United State* should reserve for special sale, 
all mines, minerals and salt springs ; and that a price 
should be put upon the Public Lands sufficient to pre- 
vent monopoly, but not to discourage actual settlement. 

Through his indefatigable exertions at Richmond, 
and at Annapolis, two companies were formed under 
the patronage of Maryland and Virginia, for opening 
the navigation of the Potomac and the James; and 
he was made President of both. By a unanimous vote 
of the Yirginia Assembly, fifty shares in the Potomac 
Company, and o;.e hundred in the James Kiver Com- 
pany, (worth §40,000) where appropriated for his 
benefit, to the end that while the great works he had 
promoted would remain monuments of liis glory, they 
might also be monuments of the gratitude of his 
Country. 

Washington hesitated to accept the gift ; but fearing 
that his refusal to do so might be construed into dis- 
respect, he received the shares in trust, to be applied 
to some object, or institution, of a public nature, and 
subsequently appropriated them to the endowment of 
the Academy, which has since grown into the Wash- 
ington-Lee University. 

But it was in rural pursuits that ho delighted. " The 
niore I am acquainted with agricniltural affairs," he 



164 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

sajs in a letter to a friend, " the better am I pleased 
with them, insomuch that I can nowhere find so much 
satisfaction as in these innocent and useful pursuits. 
While indulging these feelings, I am led to reflect how 
much more delightful to an undebauched mind is the 
task of making improvements on the Earth, than all 
the vain glory that can be acquired from ravaging it 
by the most uninteirupted career of conquest." 

In Governor Clinton, of Kew York, he had another 
congenial correspondent, who, like himself, had turned 
his thoughts and hands from war to agriculture ; and 
many are the pleasant letters which show how much 
more dearly these great men delighted in the sweet 
pursuits of Peace, than in the stern and noisy duties 
of War. 

In one, lie thanks the Governor for some balsam, 
and ofher curious and exotic, trees, which the latter 
had sent for the adornment of Mount Yernon. In 
another, he ])egs liim to look after some choice grape 
vines, whicli the Chevalier de Luzerne was sending 
from France. 

His Diary, too, shows how diligently and delighted- 
ly he was beautifying his precious home ; how he was 
engaged upon his groves and shrubbery, at the open- 
ing of the year, (1755) ; how the white-thorn was full 
in berry on the 10th o'^ January; and how on the 20th 
he was clearing the undergrowth from among his 
pines ; that in rebrnary he was transplanting ivy under 
the walls of the garden ; and, in March, was making 
plantati'-ns of the stately hemlock, the loveliest of 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 165 

American Evergreens ; sowing holly-berries in April ; 
and ever adding some new beauty to the bland land- 
scape, of which Mount Yernon was still the chiefest 
charm. IN'or did he in the enjoyment of the beautiful, 
neglect, for one hour, the useful, but filled his Diary 
with notes winch show how studiously he sought to 
learn, and to do, the lest in all the cares and duties of 
a country-gentleman's life. 

But his life, peaceful as it was, had its share of an- 
no3"ance3 too. His correspondence became an intoler- 
able-burthen; and, ^vitli the opening of Spring, visitors 
and sight-seers poured in upon him. Historians, too, 
and portrait painters became his constant companions, 
and he nearly sank under the weight of public interest, 
and private curiosity. 

Among the artists who have handed the man down 
to posterity, as he appeared at this time, was Houdon, 
a French sculptor of distinguished merit — wdiom Frank- 
lin and Jefferson, at the request of the General As- 
sembly of Virginia, sent to Mount Yernon to make a 
study of Washington for a statue. The artist remain- 
ed at Mount Yernon a fortnight, and modelled him 
from head to foot. After which he returned to Paris, 
and made that excellent statue and likeness, which 
adorns the Capitol of Yirginia, and copies of which in 
bronze, and in marble, have been often made, and wise- 
ly distributed throughout the Union. 

From his correspondence lie found relief at last in 
the faithful pen of a young Secretary, Tobias Lear, of 
New Hampshire, who now took up his abode at Mount 



166 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

VernoD; and again he tnrns with renewed delight 
to walks and rides through his woods, in quest of elms, 
and ash-trees, white-thorns, cra])-apples, maples, mul- 
berries and lilacs with which to shade and beautify 
his winding walks and roads. Now he sows acorns, 
and buck-eye nuts, which he had brought from the 
Monongahela; opens vistas through his groves and 
woods, and twines the scarlet honey-suckle about the 
columns of his porch. Under tliese sweet influences, 
the thoughts of his youth cam.e back; and his heart 
seem to have deeply felt the sentimental glow of his 
early love, when, with his own hands, he planted a 
group of young horse.-chestnuts which had been sent 
to him from Westmoreland, by General Henry Lee, 
(Light Horse Harry), the son of his first love, the 
"Lowland Beauty." 

His estate included several contiguous farms contain- 
ing in all over three thousand acres — well stocked, 
with horses, mules, cattle, sheep and swine ; and to all 
he gave his unremitting attention. In their manage- 
ment of his affairs he was remarkably exact. No 
negligence on the part of overseers, or of anyone, was 
overlooked. He seldom used many words on the sub- 
ject of his plans, and rarely asked advice ; Init having 
resolved upon them, he carried them into execution, 
directly and silently, and was not easily dissuaded from 
what he had begun. 

E-ising at break of day, he dispatched most of his 
correspondence before breakfast, which he took at half- 
past seven. Then he rode to the points at which his 



ailORGK WASJUNG'£V:'. 167 

men were at work, and then he returned to the house, 
and dined at half-past two. lie would then write till 
nine o'clock, unless there were company, or, at times, 
amuse himself with whist or books. 

One of his chiefest peculiarities, at this time, and at 
all times, was the care with which he abstained from 
talking of himself, or of anything which he had ever 
done. His own family, and his most intimate asso- 
ciates, as well as the strangers who enjoyed his hospi- 
tality, and even the inquisitive who sought to make 
him talk of himself, bear unvarying testimony to this 
striking fact. No one would ever have inferred from 
anything that he said of himself, that he was conscious 
of his great distinction in the world. 

An anecdote is told which illustrates his benignant 
character. While the army was camped at Morris- 
town, he attended a religious service, held in the open 
air. A chair had been placed for his use. Just as 
the service began, a woman approached with a child 
in her arms. All the seats were occupied. Washington 
rose at once, seated 1-er in his own chair, and remained 
standing during the whole service. 

Though habitually grave and thoughtful, he was of 
a social disposition, and not averse to the pleasures 
and amusements of life. He was fond of dancing, 
too, and in the dark days of ihe Revolution would take 
part in tlie gaieties of the camp. " We had a little 
dance at my quarters " writes General Greene in 1779. 
" His Excellency and Mrs. Greene danced upwards of 
three hours without once sittino- down. Nor did he 



168 GKORGK WASHINGTON. 

hesitate to engage in less dignified amusements, as 
many a remarkable stoiy tells; nor did he spurn the 
humors, and jests, and fun of the table, nor the loud 
laugh which sometimes follows the generous use of 
wine, and when the rein is given to wit and humor, and 
rollicking stories. One anecdote, which throws light on 
two sides of his cliai'actei-, may be taken from Irving. 

Being one day at table wdth Mrs. Washington and 
Colonel Henry Lee, he asked the latter whether he 
knew where he could get a pair of carriage horses. 

" I have a fine pair. General, but you cannot get 
them," said Lee. 

"Why not?" 

" Because you never pay more than half price for 
anything, and I want full price for my horses " 

This set Mrs. Washington a-laughing, and her parrot 
joined in the laugh. 

Whereupon the General quickly replied, " You are 
a funny fellow, Lee. You even make the parrot 
laugh."'' 

While Washington was thus quietly enjoying life, 
he was suddenly shocked by the death of one of his 
favorite generals, and most trusted friends, Nathaniel 
Greene, who died of sun-stroke, (June 18th, 1T95) 
near Savannah, at the farm given to him by the State 
of Georgia, 



CHAPTER XYII, 

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

No man perceived sooner than Washington the 
absohite necessity of a Federal Union. At the very 
outset of the War, on taking command of the army 
at Cambridge in 1775, he recognized the distinction 
which ouo-ht to be made between the functions of the 
several colonies, and that power and weight, which of 
right ought to belong only to the whole, and he ap- 
plied to Richard Ilenry Lee, then in Congress, to 
help him establish the distinction. "In the following 
years he strongly counselled," says Bancroft, '' the 
formation of one Continental army. As a faithful 
hiborer in tlie cause, as a man injuring his private 
estate without the smallest personal advantage, as one 
who wished most devoutly the prosperity of America, 
he in the last days of 1778, pleaded with the states- 
men of Virginia to give tlieir thoughts to matters of 
general concern, to the common interests of America, 
to the momentous concerns of an Empire." Writing 
to George Mason in 1779, he lamented that policy, 
which made the States keep their ablest men at home : 
" How useless to put in fine order the smallest parts 
of a clock, unless the great spring which is to set the 

whole in motion is well attended to. Let this call 

169 



170 GSORGE WASHINGTON. 

forth yon, Jefferson, and others, to save then- coun 
try." 

The Articles of Confederation, finally adopted in 
1781, did not satisfy him. He saw their fatal defects, 
and straightway wrote to Jefferson, to Pendleton and 
Wythe, and urged them to remedy these defects. 
"The present temper of the States," said he, "is 
friendly to the establishment of a lasting union. The 
moment should be improved. If suffered to pass 
away, it may never return, and, after gl riously and 
successfully contending against the usurpations of 
Britain, we may fall a prey to our own follies and dis- 
putes," and to his stepson, John Parke Custis, he wrote 
that Congress must be given power " to dictate, and 
not merely recommend." 

These pleas for a more perfect union had been 
silenced for the moment by the preparations for a final 
campaign. The hurry of crowded hours left no op- 
portunity for deliberation on reform of the Consti- 
tution. But we shall not have to wait long for a word 
from Washington ; and when next he speaks, he will 
propose A NEW coNSTrruTioN. 

How he put a stop to the intrigues, whicli, after the 
conclusion of peace, were set on foot to establish a 
strong Government, through the instrumentality of the 
Army ; how he turned the meetiog of officers, which 
Gates convened, from the path of folly into that of 
wisdom, has been already told. After repeating the 
story, Bancroft justly says, " No one ever ruled the 
hearts of his ofliccrs like Washington. The army of 



GEOKGE WASHINCiTON. 171 

America lias seen liini calm and commanding in the 
rage of battle ; patient and persistent under multiplied 
misfortunes ; moderate in victory ; but then he had 
been countenanced by his troops and his friends. 
Now^ he stood alone, amidst injured men, of inflamed 
passions, with swords at their sides, persuaded that 
forbearance would be their ruin, and for a fearful 
moment looking upon him as their adversary. As he 
spoke every cloud was scattered, and the full light of 
love of country broke forth. Happy for America 
that she had a patriot army ! Happy for America 
and the World that that Army had Washington for 
its chief ! " 

In June, (1783), he addressed the whole people 
through a circular to tlie Governor of every State, in 
order to arouse a spirit of devotion to the Union, and 
to incite them to give proper energy " to the Fed- 
dral Constitution, by a convention of the people." 

The newspapers of the day, as they carried this 
Letter of Washington into every home, caught up the 
theme, and demanded a revision of the Constitution, 
not by Congress, but by a Continental Convention, 
authorized for the purpose, says Bancroft. It was to 
a nation which liad not as yet a self -existent govern- 
ment, and which needed and felt the need of one, 
that Washington's legacy (as he called this circular), 
went forth. The love, which was everywhere cher- 
ished for him, in itself had become a bond of Union. 
The responses w^ere quick and emphatic. The venera- 
ble Governor of Connecticut, Jonathan Trumbull, ex- 



172 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

tolled it as exhibiting the foundation principles of 
an indissoluble Union of the States under one Federal 
head. Delaware endorsed it. Pennsylvania received 
it enthnsiasticallv, and its House thanked him unani- 
mously for the inestimable legacy bequeathed to his 
country. New York and South Carolina warmly re- 
sponded. Massachusetss despatched him a most af- 
fectionate address, attril)uting to the guidance of an 
all-wise Providence, his selection as Commander-in 
Chief. 

But it was in Virginia that his letter achieved its 
greatest victory. Maryland replied, " By your letter 
you have taught us how to value, preserve, and im- 
prove that liberty, which your services, under the 
smiles of Providence, have secured. If the powers 
given to Congress by the Confederation should be 
found incompetent to the purposes of the Union, our 
constituents will readily consent to enlarge them." 
And on the part of Congress its President trans- 
mitted it to the American Ministers in Europe, as 
" the most pei'fect evidence of his inimitable charac 
ter." 

Time ripened the seed thus sown. Maryland and 
Virginia had appointed commissioners to meet at Alex- 
andria, to arrange certain matters in dispute between 
them, and others of common interest to the two States. 
These commissioners went to Mount Vernon in March 
1Y85. After returning to Alexandria and performing 
the duties for which they were appointed, they began to 
consider matters of general concern ; and finally institu- 



GEOBaE WASHINGTON. 173 

ted a movement which resulted in an invitation ])y Vir- 
ginia to all the States to appoint commissioners, to digest 
and report the requisite augmentation of the powers 
of Congress over trade. Commissioners from New 
York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Vir- 
ginia accordingly met at Annapolis, on the 1 1th of 
September, (1786.) After mature deliberation they 
expressed in clear and passionless languagu, their con- 
viction that it would advance tlie interests of the 
Union, if the States Avould " meet at Philadelphia, on 
the second Monday of the next May (1787), to con- 
sider the situation of tlie United States, and to devise 
such further provisions as should appear necessary to 
render the Federal government adequate to the exi- 
gencies of the Union ; and to report to Congress sucli 
an act as, when agreed to Ijy them and confirmed by 
the Legislatures of every State, would effectually pro- 
vide for the same." 

The proposition was received with disfavor by the 
country and by Congress ; and the friends of a more 
perfect Union were in despair. '' We come now," 
says Bancroft, " upon the week glorious for Vii*ginia 
beyond any event in her annals, or in the history of 
any HepubKc that had exev before existed. Madison 
had been calm, and prudent, and indefatigable, alwaj^s 
acting with moderation, and always persistent of pur- 
pose. The hour was come for frank and bold words, 
and decisive action." He called to Virginia and her 
Assembly by a unanimous vote, dasliing aside the im. 
becile Congress, invited the States to meet her in con- 



174 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

vention, at tlie appointed time and place, and for the 
appointed purpose. Then choosing a delegation with 
Washington at their head, she calmly aw;;ited the 
result. New Jersey and Pennsylvania quickly took 
place beside her. Their action, the solemn and earn- 
est appeal of Yirginia, the inspiring eloquence of 
Hamilton, and the steady perseverance of Madison, 
won the day. Congress yielded, (February 21st 
1787), and recommended the Convention, and one by 
one all of the States, except Ehode Island, accepted 
the invitation of Yirginia, and sent delegates to the 
Convention. 

Wasliington went to the Convention w^ell prepared 
for tlie great work there to be undertaken. His 
knowledge of the institutions of his own country, 
gained by long experience, was probably as complete 
as that of any other man. But he was not satisfied 
with this alone. He read the history, and examined 
the principles of the ancient and modern confedera- 
cies. There is a paper in his handwTiting which con- 
tains an abstract of each, and in which are carefully 
noted their chief characteristics, their modes of opera 
tion, and then- defects. He also read the standard 
works on general politics and the science of govern- 
ment, abridging parts of them, according to his usual 
practice, so that he might impress the essential points 
more deeply on his mind. 

In due time he set out for Philadelphia. At Ches- 
ter he vvas met by public honors. From the Schuyl- 
kill the City Light Horse conducted him into Phila- 



GEORGPJ WASHINGTON. 1^6 

delpliia, the bells chiming all the while. His first act 
was to wait upon Franklin, then resident of Penn- 
sylvania. 

On tlie 25th of May the seven States required to 
form a quorum, were present. At the desire of 
Franklin, Washington was unanimously elected Presi- 
dent of the Convention. 

The Convention was in session four months. Tlie 
result of its labors was tlie Constitution of tlie United 
States. On the 17th of September, (1787), this was 
feigned by all the members present, except three. 
They all dined together on that day, and took a cor- 
dial leave of each other. Washington retired at an 
early hour, "to meditate on the momentous work 
which had been executed." 

The Constitution having been transmitted by Wash- 
ington, as President of the Convention, to Congress, 
was immediately sent hy that body to the several 
State Legislatures, for the purpose of l)eing submitted 
in each State to a Convention of delegates chosen by 
the people. As soon as he had gotten back to Mount 
Yernon, Washington sent copies of it to Patrick 
Henry, to Harrison and to l^elson, each of whom had 
been Governor of Yirginia. In a propitiato-y letter 
he appealed to their experience of the difficulties 
which had always arisen in attempts to reconcile the 
interests and local prejudices of the several States, and 
urged them to support it. 

A visitor at Mount Yernon, just after the letter was 
written, says, that he had dqwy i i liis life seen '• him 



1Y6 GEuRaE WASHINGTON. 

SO keen for anything, as for the adoption of the new 
form of Government." Throughout the whole coun- 
try, says Bancroft, he was the centre of interest ; in 
Virginia, of power. The leaders of the opposition 
answered him frankly, but with expressions of defer- 
ence and affection. 

Harrison, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, and 
even George Mason, opposed tlie ratification of the 
constitution hy Virginia; but the influence of Wash- 
ington outweighed them all. He was embosomed in 
the affections, and enshrined in the pride of the people 
of Virginia ; and in nil tlieir wanderings, during the 
nine anxious months following the Federal Conven- 
tion, he w^as the anchor of the Constitution. His 
neighbors agreed with him to a man, and Fahfax 
County instructed Geoi-ge Mason, and its other repre- 
sentatives, that tlie peace, security and prosperity of 
Virginia, and of the United States, depended on the 
speedy adoption of the Federal Constitution. 
" Finally, on the 25th of June, 1788, New Hamp- 
shire ratified the Constitution, wdiich thereupon, (eight 
other States having already ratifi-. d it), became the 
Supreme Law of the Land. The master who accom- 
plished this great work was George Washington. 



CHAPTEE XYIIl. 



THE FIRST PRESIDENT. 



The Presidential election was held on the 1st 
Wednesday of January, 1789. The electors met on 
the 1 st Wednesday of February, and cast all their 
ballots for Washino-ton. At the same time John 
Adams was chosen Vice President. 

The new government was to be inaugurated on the 
1st Wednesday (the 4:th day) of March, but a quorum 
of the House did not appear till the 1st of April, nor 
was the Senate organized till the 6th of that month 
(1789). On that day the election of Washington was 
formally declared. On the 14th the fact was officially 
made known to him, and on the ir)th lie set out for 
the temporary seat of government, Xow York. 

His journey thither was one continued march of 
triumph. All the way he was met with addresses 
from the various towns, from societies, u!uversities 
and churches. The people gathered to see him as he 
passed along the road ; he was escorted from place to 
place by companies of militia; and in tlie principal 
cities his presence was announced by the liriug of 
cannon, the ringing of bell?, and by military displays. 

At Trenton he ^vas met bv a party of matrons and 

177 



1^8 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



their daughters, all dressed in white, singing an o(3e 
oj welcome to " the mighty chief, who had rescued 
them from a mercenary foe," and strewing flowers be- 
fore him. 

" Embarking at Elizabeth Point on a new barge, 
manned by pilots draped in white, he cleaved his 
course swiftly across the ])ay, ])etween gaily decorated 
boats, filled with gazers, who cheered him with instru- 
mental music and songs. As he touched the soil of 
Kew York he was welcomed by the two Houses of 
Congress, by the Governor of the State, by the magis- 
trates of the city, and by its people; and, so attended, 
proceeded on foot to the modest mansion lately occu- 
pied by the presiding officer of the late Congress. On 
that day he dined with Governor Clinton ; and in the 
evening the city was illuminated." (Bancroft.) 

On the 20th, the day appointed for his inaugura- 
tion, he was ceremoniously received by the two Houses 
of Congress in the Hall of the Senate (in the old City 
Hall). Stepping out on a balcony which overlooked 
Broad Street, he found before him an immense throng 
reaching almost to Broadway. It was hushed into 
silence when Livingston, the Chancellor of New York, 
administered the oath of office; but when he cried 
"Long live George Washington, President of the 
United States !" the air was rent with huzzas. 

Then returning to the Senate Chamber,, "with an 
aspect grave almost to sadness, and a voice deep and 
tremulous," he delivered his inaugural. He then 
went on foot to St. Paul's Church, accompanied by 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 179 

Congress. There prayers, suited to the occasion, were 
read, after whic"; the people all attended the Presi- 
dent to his mansion. 

^' Every one without exception," so reports the 
French minister to his Government, " appeared pene- 
trated with veneration for the illustrious chief of the 
EepuLlic. The humblest was proud of the virtues of 
the man wlio was to govern them. Tears of joy were 
seen to fall in the Senate, at church and even in the 
streets ; and no Sovereign ever reigned more com- 
pletely in the hearts of its subjects than Washington 
in the hearts of his fellow citizens, l^ature, which 
has given him the talent to govern, has distinguished 
him from all others by his appearance. He has at 
once the soul, the look and the figure of a hero." 

Washington felt that the task to whi<ih he had so 
reluctantly undertaken was one of great responsibility 
and difficulty, and he knew that the hopes and expec- 
tations of his countrymen were in proportion to the 
unanimity with whicli they had crowned him with 
honors and with which they had entrusted the Gov- 
ernment to him. 

'' All tliat I dare hope," said he in his inaugural, 
"is that, if in accepting this task I have been too 
much swayed by a grateful remembrance of former 
instances, or by an affectionate sensibility to this 
transcendant proof of the confidence of my fello^v 
citizens, and have thence too little consulted my in- 
capacity, as well as my disinclination, for the weighty 
and untried cares before n:e, my error will be pal- 



180 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

liated by the motives which misled me, and its conse- 
quences bo judged by my country with some share of 
th^ partiality in which they originated." 

With these sentiments, and with profound reliance 
upon the guidance of an overruling Providence, he 
commenced the arduous duties of Chief Magistrate of 
the United States. 

As in accepting the command of the armies at the 
beginning of the Kevolution — so, now, in accepting 
the Presidency of the Republic, which he had done so 
much to found, he notified Congress that he would ac- 
cept no other compensation for his services than such 
as would be necessary to defray the expenses of his 
household and other charges incident to his public 
station. Congress, nevertheless, fixed bis salary at 
$25,000. 

The organization of the new Government was, of 
course, tlie great duty to whicli the President and 
Cono^ress directed their attention. Three Executive 
departments were provid^'d f >r — of State, of the 
Treasury, and of War. The Navy was put under the 
charge of the latter. 

Long experience in public affairs, high political 
standmg, and great ability, pointed out Thomas Jeffer- 
son as eminently qualified for the State Department. 
He was now about to return for a time from France, 
where he had some years before succeeded Frank- 
lin as xVmerican Minister, and had already won great 
distinction and favor among all parties to t e great 
struggle which was then convulsing France and shak- 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 181 

ing all Europe to its centre. To him the President 
determined to offer the Secretaiyship of State. 

Alexander Hamilton was appointed Secretary of 
the Treasury. His eminent fitness for the position 
was questioned by no one. 

General Henry Knox, of Massachusetts, one of his 
most trusted generals, and who was known to be a 
discreet man with business habits, was made Secre- 
tary of War. 

To Edmund Randolph of Yh-ginia, was given the 
office C'f Attorney General. He had presented to 
the Convention that scheme of Government which 
was the basis of tlie new Constitution ; he was so 
dissatisfied, however, with the changes whic'i were 
made, that he was one of the three members of the 
Convention who refused to sign it. For this mistake 
he compensated afterwards, by supporting the Consti- 
tution with great and controlling ability in the Vir- 
ginian Convention. He had been Governor of that 
State at an early age, and l)eing gifted with intellect, 
eloquence, an elegant person, charming manners, and 
social distinction, was very popular. 

The President's next care was to appoint the Justices 
of the Supreme Court, a tribunal whose proper constitu- 
tion he regarded as " essential to the happiness of the 
country, and to the stability of its political system," 
and as " the keystone of our political fabric." In plac- 
ing John Jay at its head, he consulted alike the public 
good, the dignity of the Court, and his own feelings. 
His associates were worthy of him, and the Coiu't in- 



182 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

stantly assumed a respectability and weight suited to 
the rank conferred upon it by the Constitution. 

No part of his duties gave him so much anxiety as 
that of distributing the lesser offices in his gift ; for he 
clearly foresaw the important bearing of this matter, 
no less upon the disposition of the people towards 
the new government, than upon the efficiency of the 
administration itself. He, therefore, after earnest 
thought, prescribed to himself certain rules for his 
guidance, to which he rigidly adhered — never to give 
any pledges or encouragement to any one ; not be in- 
fluenced in the remotest degree by tlie ties of family 
or of blood ; and chiefly to regard three things, " the 
fitness of character to fill offices, the comparative 
claims from the former merits and sufferings in ser- 
vice of the different candidates, and the distribution 
of appointments in as equal a proportion as might 
be to persons belonging to different States in the 
Union." 

Amono; the lesser duties of his station was the es- 
tablishment of rules for the conduct of his social 
relations as President of the Republic ; a thing of no 
little difficulty, for while it was essential, in the inter- 
course of the President with the world, to maintain 
the dignity of the office l)y such forms as should in- 
sure deference and respect, the nature of Republican 
Institutions, and the habits of the people, required 
the Chief Magistrate to be accessible to every citizen 
on proper occasions, and for reasonable purposes, and 
that he should be surrounded by none of the pomp 



e-KOEGB AVASHINGTON. 183 

and circumstance of Kingly Governments. Accord- 
ingly, with the adT^.c3 of the Yice-Fresident, Hamil- 
ton, Madison, Jay, and other gentlemen, rules were 
adopted which estallished the etiquette of the White 
House, as it substantially exists at the present day. 
Hours were set apart to receive such persons as 
chose to call. Foreign Ministers, strangers of distinc- 
tion, and citizens came and Avent without ceremony. 
Every Friday afternoon Mrs. Washington received; 
the General always being present. Other times were 
set ; part for special visits of ceremony or business. 
He accepted no invitations to dinner; but invited to 
his own table foreign ministers, officers of the Gov- 
ernment, and others. No visits were received on Sun- 
day. In the morning he uniformly attended church. 
The afternoon he spent alone, the evening with his 
family, and occasionally an intimate friend. 

During the summer, (1Y89), he was dangerously 
ill. For six weeks lie was confined to his bed ; and it 
was three months before lie was well. He never en- 
tirely recovered from the effects of this sickness. 
Hardly had he gotten strong enough to leave the 
house, when he heard of the death of his mother, 
who had died, on the 25tli of August, in the 82d year 
of her age. Through life she had been remarkable for 
vigor of mind and of body, simplicity of manners, 
and uprightness of character. The success and renown 
of her great son, and the honors which were heaped 
upon him, made no change in the widow's deportment 
or style of living, and wlionever he re-visited her mod- 



184 aBOEGE WASHINGTON. 

est dwelling, he re-entered the simple home of his 
childhood, with its ways and liabits all unchanged, and 
as fresli in its rustic purity and old-time virtues, as 
when, in his boyhood, he there learned the lessons of 
unaffected wisdom and all-pervasive goodness. 

Neither pride nor vanity ever mingled with the 
feelings which were aroused in her heart by the atten- 
tions which were bestowed upon her as the "Mother 
of Washington." Slie listened to his praises and was 
silent, or would only say that he had always been a 
good son, and had, she hoped, done his duty as a man. 

Congress having adjourned on the 29th of Septem- 
ber till January, Washington took advantage of this 
circumstance to make a tour through New England 
for the benefit of his health and to observe the condi- 
tion of the people and their feelings toward the new 
government. He travelled in his own carriage, ac- 
companied by his Secretaries, Mr. Lear and Mr. Jack- 
son; and in the course of a month visited New Ha- 
ven, Hartford, AV^orcester, Boston, Salem, Newburyport 
and Portsmouth. He was everywhere greeted with ac- 
clamations of joy, and shown the utmost respect and 
veneration. The journey was every way satisfactory 
to him, not only as furnishing proofs of the strong at- 
tachment of the people to himself, but as showing to 
him the growing prosperity of the country, and the 
sausf action of the people with the Constitution and 
with the administration of the Government. 

Congress having re-assembled in January (1790), 
the President, from tlie chair of the Yice President, 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 185 

addressed both Houses assembled in the Senate Cham- 
ber, advising them to organize, arm, and discipline 
the militia ; to encourage such manufactures as were 
essential to the national defense ; to protect the West- 
ern frontier fi'om Indian incursions ; to adopt a natu- 
ralization law ; to establish a uniform currency ; to pro- 
mote education ; and above all to support the public 
credit. 

Tlie National Debt had its origin chiefly in the 
He volution. It was of two kinds — Foreign and Do- 
mestic. The Foreign, amounting to $12,000,000, was 
due mainly in Fiance, Holland and Spain. The Do- 
mestic Debt, due in this country, amounted to $42,- 
000,000. Both of these debts had l)een contracted 
by Congress, and were acknowledged to be a national 
charge. The several States had also contracted dur- 
ing the Revolution, for the support of troops and the 
maintenance of the war .generally, debts amounting to 
about $25,000,000. The Foreign debt had to be 
paid in full. Hamilton proposed that all the Domes- 
tic debts, including the $25,000,000 due by the States 
individually, should be funded and paid by the United 
States. He w^as violently and bitterly opposed, on 
the ground that the Domestic debt had fallen into the 
liands of speculators who had paid l3ut a trifle for it, 
and who had no claim to full payment. 

The assumption of the State debts was opposed by 
Madison and others, on other and stronger grounds ; 
but Hamilton, backed by the 'speculators and sustained 
by those w^ho believed that the honor and best inter- 



186 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

ests of the country required it to fulfill its obliga- 
tions at whatever cost, triumphed. He might have 
failed, after all, had he not (as is charged) secured for 
his propositions a vote or two from Maryland and 
Virginia, by making an arrangement whereby the seat 
of Government was permanent!}^ established within 
the limits of those States. 

The President expressed no sentiments on the sub- 
ject, while it was under debate in Congress; but he 
approved the act for funding the del)t, and was, un- 
doubtedly, a sincere friend of the measure. 

Another severe illness prostrated him during the 
summer, and, as soon as he was well enougli to travel, 
he souglit repose and recreation in the quiet of Mount 
Yernon, whither he always returned with delight; l)ut 
with redou1)led pleasure now, when he so much needed 
rest fr(jm labor, and refreshment for liis weary spirit 
and de])ilitated body. 

The new Government was early called upon to pro 
tect the frontier settlements against Indian ravages. 
A war began, wliich lasted four or five years, with 
many vicissitudes of m.isfortune and disaster ; the de- 
feats of PTarmer and St. Clair ; unsuccessful campaigns ; 
and much loss of blood and treasure, till General 
Wayne put an end to it, first ]:»y a battle (4th JSTovember, 
L794) and then, in the next year, by a treaty of peace. 
It was a source of constant regret and pain to Wash- 
ington, on account of the necessity of subduing the 
savages by force, and of the heavy burdens which it 
laid upon the Treasury. 



aEORGW WASHINGTON. 187 

Congress convened at Philadelphia in December, 
1790, that city having been made the seat of gov- 
ernment for ten years. Two important measm-es 
were adopted : a ITational Bank, and a tax on ardent 
spirits distilled in the United States. Washington 
approved both. 

Tlie tax on ardent spirits was violently opposed 
(particularly in those sections where whiskey was 
chiefly distilled), and its enforcement was openly re- 
sisted. In Western Pennsylvania it provoked a for- 
midable insurrection with wliich very respectable 
persons, including Albert Gallatin, were connected. 
Washington finally called out fifteen thousand militia, 
under command of General Henry Lee and General 
Morgan. This wise display of force, with the exer- 
cise of moderation, was successful. The insurgents 
dispersed and the Wliiskey Insurrection was at an end 
(1794). 

During the Spring and Summer of this year (1791) 
AYashington made a journey through the South. He 
was gone three mon hs, and travelled nearly 1900 
miles with the same horses. His route lay 
through Richmond, Wilmington and Charleston, as 
far as Savannah ; whence he retm-ned by way of Au- 
gusta, Columbia, and the interior of Virginia and 
North Carolina. Before leaving home he had ascer- 
tained with great exactness the distances between each 
place at whicli lie was to stop. Not a single accident 
occurred, nor was his plan depai'ted from in any in- 
stance — except that he stayed one day less at one place 



188 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

and one day longer at another, than had been intended. 
He everywhere received the same proofs of respect 
and attachment which had attended him in his travels 
through the Middle and Eastern States. It was dur- 
ing tins trip that he selected the site of the District 
of Columbia. 

At the next session of Congress, the parties which 
liad existed in the country ever since the debates on 
the adoption of the Federal Constitution, divided dis- 
tinctly on all the measures before that body. The 
leader of tlie one, tb.e Federalists, was Alexander 
Hamilton, Secretaiy of the Treasury ; the leader of 
the other, wliich now took the name of Republicans, 
was Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State. The con- 
test was carried on, therefore, not only before the 
people and in Congress, but in the Cabinet itself. 

Hamilton !)elieving ti-at the Constitution could 
never l)e efficient and strong enough, except by con- 
struing and administering it in such manner as would 
add to the powers of the Executive, had always pre- 
ferred those measures, which would produce that re- 
sult, and among these were the Funding system ; the 
assumption of the State debts ; the bank ; and the tax 
on distilled spirits. 

Jefferson, whose fears were that the Constitution 
gave too much power to the Executive, and that it 
endangered the rights of the States, and the liberties 
of the people, resisted these measures and every other 
which it was not clearly within the constitutional 
power of Congress to enact. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 189 

The conflict between Hamilton and Jefferson soon 
became bitter and personal, and gave great anxiety to 
Washington. He had a high opinion of the merits of 
both, and probably was not blind to the faults of 
either. He accordingly used his utmost endeavors to 
reconcile their differences, and to that and addressed 
to each of them several letters, which are enduring 
monuments of his own wisdom, of his own patriotism, 
and of his own immense superiority to both of them 
in statesmanship and in real manhood. 

But in vain. The two Secretaries continued to di- 
verge from each other, both in their political course, 
and in their private feelings, till their differences set- 
tled into a personal enmity, which neitlier tlie advdce 
of friends could modify, nor time eradicate. 

On one point they agreed : the need of Washington 
at tlie helm. When, therefore, his first term was 
drawing to its close, they each wrote him a long let- 
ter, urging him, as a matter of the utmost import- 
ance to his own reputation, and to the public inter 
ests, tliat lie should at least consent to serve for the 
present; and assuring him, in the most earnest lan- 
guage, that in their opinion, his character, his influ- 
ence, and his steady hand were necessary to secure the 
stability of the Government, if not to preserve the 
nation from anarchy. 

" The confidence of the whole Union," said Jeffer- 
son, " is centred in you. * * * I am perfectly aware 
of the oppression under which jour present oflice lays 
your mind, and of the ardor with wliich you pant for 



190 GEORGE WASHIxVGTON. 

retirement to private life. But there is sometimes an 
eminence of character, on which society has such pe- 
culiar claims, as to control the predilection of the 
individual for a peculiar walk of happiness, and re- 
strain him to that alone, arising from tlie present and 
future benedictions of mankind. This seems to be 
your condition, and the law imposed upon you by 
Providence in forming your character, and fashioning 
the events upon which it was to operate." 

Hamilton was equally strenuous and decided. 

Governor Randolph, the Attorney-General, wrote: 

" The Constitution never Avould have been adopted, 
but from the knowledge that you sanctioned it, and 
an expectation that you would execute it. It is in a 
state of probation. The most inauspicious struggles 
are past ; but the public deliberations need sta- 
bility. You alone can give them stability. * * It is 
the tixed opinion of the world, that you surrender 
nothing incomplete." 

Yielding to these, and similar representations from 
all quarters of the country, Wasliingtun finally con- 
sented to serve a second term, and wp*^ again unani- 
mously elected. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



HIS SECOND TERM. 



Washington began his second term on the 4th of 
March, 1793, with John Adams again as Vice-Presi 
dent. 

The foreign relations of the United States were 
every day becoming more peculiarly delicate and 
embarrassing. The French Pevolution, which had 
broken out in the first year of his administration, 
(1789), had, in its earliest stages, excited the utmost 
sympathy of the people of America, and, in spite of 
the bloodthirsty scenes which had since darkened its 
cliaracter, was still r( garded by the greater part of 
them as a rightful war of the oppressed against their 
oppressors. 

Gouverneur Morris had, after Jefferson's return^ 
been sent to France as United States Minister, and a 
friendly intercourse had been kept up between the two 
countries, on the basis of the existiug treaties of »tUi- 
ance and commerce. But the subversion of the royal 
government in France, in August, 1792, was suc- 
ceeded by such a state of anarchy, and by scenes of 
so nmch IJood and horror ; there was so nmch uncer- 
tainty as to the future course of events in that coun- 



192 GV:ORGE WASHINGTOV. 

try, and so much reason to doubt whether the fallen 
monarch would he finally deposed, or restored to his 
throne, with increased splendor and power ; that the 
American Minister, uncertain what course to pursue, 
declined to commit his government to the fortunes 
of the party which had seized the supreme power. 
Offended by this conduct, tlie Executive of France 
complained, through its minister at Philadelphia, of 
the conduct of the American Minister, and of the lit- 
tle sympathy exhibited by the American Government 
to those who had so lately, so generously, and so suc- 
cessfully aided them in their own struggle for liberty. 
Our Government, responding to these complaints, in- 
structed Mr. Morris that the United States recognized 
tlie right of every nation to govern itself according to 
its own will ; to change its institutions at discretion ; 
and to transact its business tlirough whatever agents 
it might think proper; and that, consequently, the 
administration entertained no doubt of the propriety 
of recognizing the existing authority in France, what- 
ever form it might assume. lie was also directed to 
seize every occasion to confirm and strengthen the 
alliance l)etween the two countries. 

These instructions expressed the feelings of the Pres- 
ident, whose attachment to tlie French nation was as 
strong as consisted with a due regard to the interests 
of his own country. Devoted to the principles of real 
liberty, and approving unequivocally the Re^ u])lican 
form of government, he earnestly hoped that the 
French would tliemselves estal)lish a Republic which 



gkorgl; washing on. 193 

should secure to that people the inestimable blessings 
of Liberty ; but he could not forget that it was the 
deposed King himself who had given to the hard 
pressed colonies that assistance which had enabled 
them to achieve their independence ; nor was he wil- 
ling to imperil the fortunes of his own country by 
involving it in the deadly contest which was deluging 
the soil of France with blood. He therefore resolved 
to maintain the strictest neutrality between the con_ 
tending factions, and to carefully avoid becoming com. 
plicated in their quarrels. 

Not much time elapsed after his second inaugura- 
tion before an occasion presented itself for testing the 
firmness of his resolution. 

Early in April, (1793), the people of the United 
States learned that the French had declared war 
against England and Holland. The event produced 
the profoundest agitation. There was an almost 
universal feeling that it was criminal to be uncon- 
cerned spectators of a conflict between their an- 
cient enemy and Kepublican France. Men of all 
parties partook of it. The few who did not do so 
were held up as objects of popular detestation, and 
were denounced as the tools of Britain, and as the 
satellites of despotism. 

But the disposition to actually engage in the w^ar 
w^as far from being general. The inclination of the 
people was to the full indulgence of tlie most extrav- 
agant partiality, but not to an involvement in the 
consequences which that indulgement would infallibly 



194 GEORGK WASHIJN^GTON. 

produce. The situation was one in which the wisdom 
and foresight of an enlightened government was in- 
dispensably necessary to prevent the nation from pre- 
cipitating itself into war. 

Washington was at Mount Yernon when he heard 
of the French declaration of war. He wrote imme- 
diately to the Secretary of State, avowing his deter- 
mination to maintain a strict neutrality, and directing 
him to take instant measures to prevent privateers 
from being fitted out in any American port. On the 
17th of April he reached Philadelphia, and after con- 
sulting his Cabinet, determined that he would receive 
a Minister of the French Kepublic, if one should 
present his credentials ; and on the 22d of April 1Y93, 
published a proclamation of neutrality, which there- 
after being rigidly enforced, saved this country from 
being drawn into the vortex of the great wars, which 
raged in Europe for many years with such great vio- 
lence. 

Our relations with Great Britain had also become 
very unsatisfactory. Accusations were made by both 
Governments of infractions of the Treaty of Peace 
of 1783, and that its stipulations had not been carried 
out, and both began to resort to measures of retalia- 
tion. To avert war, "Washington determined to send 
the Chief-Justice, John Jay, as a Special Minister to 
England. (April, 1796). A treaty was concluded by 
him, which was not by any means satisfactory to the 
President ; but he, belieWng that war would inevita- 
bly follow its rejection, submitted it to the Senate. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 195 

That body reluctantly ratified it by a bare constitu- 
tional majority (June, 1795). Its publication created 
the intensest excitement, and developed the bitterest 
opposition to the Treaty. But the President never- 
theless signed it, August 13th 1795. 

Washington had reluctantly accepted the Presidency 
the second time. He was resolved to decline a third 
©lection and signified this purpose in a Farewell Ad- 
dress — a paper unrivalled for the vigor of its language, 
the soundness of its maxims, the wisdom of its coun- 
sels, and the purity and elevation of its sentiments. In- 
it he urged the maintenance of " the unity of the Gov- 
ernment " as " a main pillar in the edifice of real in- 
dependence ; the support of tranquillity at home, peace 
abroad, safety, prosperity and liberty." He regretted 
that " any ground should be furnished for characteriz- 
ing parties by geographical discriminations — Northern 
and Southern, Atlantic and Western" — and warned 
the people against innovations on the principles of 
the Constitution, \vhile retaining its forms. 

It was published on the 15th of September (1796), 
and produced in every class of the community a sensa- 
tion which has been as lasting as it was strong. The 
sentiments of veneration with which it was generally 
received were manifested in almost every part of the 
Union. Some of the State Legislatures directed it 
to be inserted at large in their jom-nals ; and near- 
ly all of them passed resolutions expressing their 
respect for the person of the President, their high 
sense of his exalted services, and the emotions with 



196 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

which they contemplated his retirement from office. 
In the election which followed, John Adams was 
elected President, and Thomas Jefferson Yice-Presi- 
dent. On the 4th of March (1797) they were inaugu- 
rated, and Washington ceased to be President. 



CHAPTER XX. 



AFTER THE PRESIDENCY. 



Being once more a private citizen, and having al- 
ready made preparation for his departure from the 
Capitol, he proceeded immediately with his family to 
Mount Yernon. He was welcomed, as he went thith- 
er, with as ardent demonstrations of attachment as 
when clothed with the dignity and powers of office. 
On approaching Baltimore he was met by a military 
escort and a large concourse of her people, who ac- 
companied him into the city ; and it was not till he 
had actually reached Mount Yernon that he could say 
that he was no longer a public man. 

No one, at this day, doubts the msdom and the suc- 
cess of Washington's administration, nor its beneficent 
influence upon the character of the Government ; and 
never was the country more prosperous than while he 
was its Chief Magistrate. Credit was restored and 
established on a firm basis ; the public debt was pro- 
vided for, and its ultimate payment secured ; com- 
merce increased beyond example ; the tonnage of our 
ports was doubled ; imports and exports were greatly 
augmented, and the revenues increased beyond expec- 

tion; the war with the Indians was successfully 

197 



198 GEORGE AVASMINGTON. 

(dosed an I the security of the frontier assured; and 
treaties were made with foreign powers, whereby old 
disputes were settled and important privileges gained. 

Being once more at Mount Ycrnon, Washington 
readily returned to the same habits of life and the 
same pursuits, which he had always practiced there. 
He found that much was to be done to repair his 
houses, to restore his farms to the condition in which 
he had left them, and to complete his system of agri- 
culture ; and to these employments he devoted himself 
earnestly, and with unfailing pleasure. Writing to a 
friend, at this time, he says that he arose with sun, 
that as soon as he had breakfasted he mounted his 
horse and rode over his farm till it was time to dress 
for dinner, " at which I rarely miss," says he, " to 
see stranger faces come, as they say, out of respect for 
me, and how^ different is this from having a few social 
friends at a cheerful board ! Then a walk and tea 
l^rings me within the dawn of candle-light ;" after 
whicli he acknowledged the letters he Lad received. 

In this manner a year passed aw^ay ; wdien once 
more he was called to serve his country. The French 
Directory was committing outrages and insults against 
the United States, which no independent nation could 
brook. President Adams convened Congress, and, sub- 
mitting the subject to them, recommended preparations 
for war. That everything might be done to escape 
that alternative, two envoys extraordinary John Mar- 
shall and Eldridge Gerry, were sent to France to make 
one more effort, in conjunction with the American Min 



©EORGE WASHINaTON. 199" 

ister there, Mr. Pincknej, to preserve peace. This 
mission failed entirely, and Congress authorized the 
President to enlist ten thousand men as a Provisional 
army, and to call them into actual service if war should 
be declared by France, or whenever there was danger 
of an invasion. 

The President straightway nominated Washington 
Lieutenant-General and Commander-in-chief of the 
armies of the United States, and the nomination was 
unanimously confirmed by the Senate the next day 
(July 3 1798). The Secretary of War himself bore 
the commission to Mount Yernon. Washington accepted 
the appointment with two reservations : first, that the 
principal officers should be such as he approved ; and 
that lie himself should not be required to take the field 
till ]iis presence there should become necessary. He 
also declared that he would not receive any emoluments 
of the office, until he should actually incur expense, 
and only to that extent. 

At his request, Alexander Hamilton was commis- 
sioned as Inspector-General, with rank next to himself, 
and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and Henry Knox 
w^ere appointed Major Generals. Knox, offended by 
being ranked by men who had been his juniors, de- 
clined the appointment. 

From this time to the end of his life a great part of 
Washington's attention was given to the affairs of the 
new army. His correspondence with the Secretary of 
War and with the officers of the army was unremit- 
ting and very full, and showed that the vigor and fer- 



200 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 



tilitj of his mind were still unimpaired. He spent a 
month in Philadelphia with Hamilton and Pinckney, 
making arrangements for raising and organizing the 
army, and after the plan was finished, applied himself 
with all the ardor of his younger days to put it into 
■execution. 

He never seriously apprehended that the French 
would actually invade the country, but he firmly be- 
lieved that the surest way to prevent war was to pre- 
pare for it. His opinion proved to be correct. The 
French, seeing that our Government was sustained by 
the people, intimated a willingness to enter into nego- 
tiations. The President again sent three envo^^s with 
full power to negotiate. Before they arrived in Paris 
Napoleon had overthrown the Directory, and was at 
the head of affairs. Having taken no part in the 
preceding disputes, and seeing no advantage in con- 
tinuing them, he readily received the envoys, and the 
disputes between the two countries were peacefully 
settled. 

Washington did not live to share in the joy which 
the country felt at the restoration of peace. On Fri- 
day, the 13th of December, (1799) while attending 
to some improvements upon his estate, he was exposed 
to a light rain, by which his neck and hair became 
wet. Not apprehensive of danger from this circum- 
stance, he passed the afternoon in his usual manner ; 
but in the night he was seized with an inflammatory 
affection of the windpipe. The disease commenced 
with a violent ague, accompanied with some soreness 



OE •llGl': W\SHIN.IT()N. 201 

of throat, which bj Saturday morning had become 
so severe, that lie breathed and spoke with difficulty. 
About 11 o'clock in the morning Dr. Craik arrived. Per- 
ceiving the extreme danger of the case, he requested 
that two consulting physicians should be immediately 
sent for. But the utmost exertions of medical skill were 
applied in vain. The powers of life were manifestly 
yielding to the force of the disease. Speaking, which 
was painful from the beginning, became almost im- 
practicable; respiration became more and more im- 
perfect and contracted, until half-past eleven, Satur- 
day night (December 14:th 1799), when, retaining the 
full possession of his intellect, he expired without a 
struggle. 

Believing from the commencement of his com- 
plaint that its conclusion would be mortal, he had 
economized his time in arranging, with the utmost 
serenity, those few concerns which required his atten- 
tion, and had awaited the inevitable hour with every 
demonstration of that equanimity for which his life 
was so uniformly and singularly conspicuous. On 
Wednesday, the 18th of December, his body was de- 
posited in the family vault at Mount Vernon. 

On the same day the news reached Philadelphia, 
where the Congress was in session. On the next day, 
John Marshall, afterwards Chief -Justice, and then a 
member of the House, after recounting the public 
acts of AVashington in an eloquent and pathetic 
speech, offered resolutions that the House wait upon 
the President, to condole with him on the occasion; 



202 "GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

and that a joint committee of the two Houses be ap- 
pointed, " to pay due honors to the memory of the 
man, who was first in war, first in peace, and first ia 
the hearts of his fellow-citizens." 

General Henry Lee was appointed to deliver an 
oration before Congress ; the people were requested 
to observe his birth-day, and imposing funeral ceremo- 
nies were celebrated. 

The mourning was universal, and was respected 
everywhere, and in all appropriate ways. The honors 
which he received abroad are such as have no paral- 
lel. Bonaparte issued an order of the day to the 
French armies, announcing his death, and directing 
all the standards and flags of the Republic to be 
draped with black crape. A splendid ceremony took 
place in the Champ de Mars, and a funeral oration 
was pronounced in the Hotel des Invalides, in the 
presence of Napoleon, and the chief civil and mili- 
tary authorities of France. The whole British fleet 
at Torbay, on hearing the intelligence of his death, 
displayed its colors at half-mast in honor to his mem- 
ory. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



HIS CHARACTER. 



Washington, like most of the Virginians of his day, 
was utterly opposed to the institution of slavery, and 
sought to promote emancipation by every legal means. 
In 1774 he had, as chairman of a committee appointed 
by a meeting in Fairfax County, drafted resolutions 
declaring that " no slaves ought to be imported into 
any of the British colonies on this Continent," and 
expressing " the most earnest wishes to have an entire 
stop put forever to such a wicked, cruel and unnatural 
traffic." In 1783 he wrote to Lafayette, who had 
bought an estate in Cayenne in order to emancipate 
the slaves, that he would be most happy to join him 
in so laudable a work. " It is," says he, " a generous 
and noble proof of your humanity. Would to God a 
like spirit might diffuse itself in the hearts of the peo- 
ple of this country ! Emancipation might, and assur- 
edly ought ^ to be effected, and that too, by Legislative 
authority." He would have set free his own slaves 
while he was yet living, but was prevented by the fact 
that Mrs. Washington's, with whose his own were inter- 
married, had been entailed upon her, and could not be 
set free till her death. Ho therefore provided by his 

203 



r^ 



204: GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

will for the emancipation of all when she should die. 
The old and the feeble were carefully provided for. 
The young ones were to be liberated when they reached 
twenty-five, and were meanwhile to be taught to read 
and to write ; and he expressly forbade the transporta- 
tion of any one of them out of the Commonwealth. 
He also enjoined it upon his executors to see that the 
clause respecting slaves and every part thereof " should 
be religiously fulfilled, without evasion, neglect, or 
delay." 

Great as was the fame of Washington while he lived, 
and venerated as was his name, it is only in our day 
that mankind have begun to comprehend the greatness 
of his understanding and the grandeur of his character. 
But even then the great ones of the earth recognized his 
wisdom and his virtues. Frederick the Great and I^a- 
poleon measured him aright ; Chatham and Erskine 
and Grattan paid glowing tributes to his exalted worth ; 
Hamilton and Jefferson felt and acknowledged his 
mastery; and John Marshall, Chief Justice of the 
United States, knowing him w^ell, and having thor- 
oughly studied his life and character, describes him 
thus : 

"He made no pretensions to that vivacity which 
fascinates, or to tliat wit which dazzles, and frequently 
imposes upon the understanding. More solid than bril- 
liant, judgment rather than genius constituted the most 
prominent feature of his character. 

" As a military man he was brave, enterprizing and 
cautious. Inferior to his adversary in the number, in 



GEORGK WASHINGTON. 205 

the equipment and in the discipline of his troops, it is 
evidence of his merit that no great and decisive advan- 
tage was ever obtained over him, and that the oppor- 
tunity to strike an important blow never passed away 
unused. He has been termed the American Fabius ; 
but those who compare his actions with his means will 
perceive as much of Marcellus as of Fabius in his 
character. 

" In his civil administration, as in his military ca- 
reer, were exhibited ample and repeated proofs of that 
practical good sense, of that sound judgment, which is- 
perhaps the most rare, and certainly the most valuable, 
quality of the human mind. 

" No man has ever appeared upon the theatre of pub- 
lic action, whose integrity was more incorruptible, or 
whose principles were more perfectly free from the con- 
tamination of selfish and unworthy passions. His 
ends were always upright, and his means were always 
pure." 

From that day to this his fame has grown in great- 
ness and in brightness, and yet the half has not been 
told of his virtues and his wisdom. 

One of the latest and best of English historians^ 
(Green,) says of him : 

" No nobler figure ever stood in the forefront of a 
nation's life. Washington was grave and courteous in 
address ; his manners were simple and unpretending ; 
his silence and the serene calmness of his temper 
spoke of a perfect self-mastery ; but there was little in 
his outer bearing to reveal the grandeur of soul, which 



206 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

lifts his figure with all the simple majesty of an an- 
cient statue, out of the smaller passions, and the mean- 
er impulses, of the world around him. As the wearv 
fight for independence went on, the colonists learned 
little by little, the greatness of their leader, his clear, 
judgment, his heroic endurance, his silence under diffi- 
culties, his calmness in the hour of danger or defeat, 
the patience with which he waited, the quickness and 
hardness with which he struck; the lofty and serene 
sense of duty that never swerved from its task through 
resentment or jealousy, that never through war or 
peace felt the touch of a meaner ambition, that knew 
no aim save that of guarding the freedom of his fel- 
low countrymen, and no personal longing save that of 
returning to liis own fireside when their freedom was 
secured. It was almost unconsciously that men learned 
to cling to him with a faith and trust which few men 
have won, and to regard him with a reverence which 
still hushes us in the presence of his memory." 

And Lecky writes : "Of all the great men in history 
he was invariably the most judicious, and there is scarce- 
ly a rash word, or action, or judgment recorded of him. 
No act of his public life can be traced to personal ca- 
price, ambition, or resentment. In the despondency 
of long failui'e; in the elation of sudden success; at 
times when his soldiers were deserting hy hundreds, 
and when malignant plots were formed against his 
reputation; amid the constant quarrels, rivalries and 
jealousies of his subordinates ; in the dark hour of 
national ingratitude as well as in the midst of universal 



GEORGE WASHmGTON. 207 

flattery ; he was always the" same calm, wise, just and 
single-minded man, pursuing the course whicli he be- 
lieved to be right, without fear, or favor, or fanati- 
cism ; equally free from the passions which spring from 
interest and from those that spring from imagination. 
He was, in the highest sense of the word, a gentleman 
and a man of honor, and he carried into public life the 
severest standard of private morals. It was always 
known by his friends, and it was soon acknowledged 
by the whole nation and by the English themselves, 
that in Washington America had found a leader who 
could be induced by no earthly motive to tell a false- 
hood, or to break an engagement, or to do any dishon- 
orable act. There is scarcely another instance in his- 
tory of a man of this moral type, who has reached and 
maintained the highest position in the convulsions of 
civil war, and of a great popular agitation. And no 
fact shows so eminently the high intelligence of the 
men who managed the American Kevolution as then* 
selection of a leader, whose qualities were so much 
more solid than brilliani, and who was so entirely free 
from all the characteristics of a demagogue." 

And Everett expresses the universal judgment of 
all men who have studied the history of Washington's 
life, and of the times in which he lived, in these nota- 
ble words : " He teas the greatest of good inen^ and 
the lest of great men.'''' 



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